


Yellow

by galacticgay4



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Catra (She-Ra) in a Suit, F/F, Lawyer Catra, Minor Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Super Pal Trio (She-Ra), alternate universe-reporter, idiots to lovers, reporter adora, she was a lawyer. she was a reporter. can i make it any more obvious, short hair catra bc im gay, slow burn question mark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24768136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticgay4/pseuds/galacticgay4
Summary: Adora is a reporter at the Etheria Times looking for answers about her past. Catra is an attorney at Hordak & Hordak determined to prove her worth. With the help of their ragtag group of friends and the power of the gays, they just might stand a chance.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 129





	1. Chapter 1

_Adora trudged sleepily down the stairs, blanket dragging on the floor beside her as she rubbed her tired eyes. She could smell the bacon from her room._

_Adora rounded the corner to the hallway that led to the kitchen, still in awe of how big the house was compared to Miss Hope’s._

_Mara was piling pancakes, eggs, and bacon onto plates when Adora walked in. Her long brown hair was pulled into a neat ponytail and she was wearing grey pants and a white blouse. “Go ahead and sit at the table,” Mara said with a kind smile. Adora did as she was told, setting her blanket on the seat next to her. Mara set her plate and a cup of juice down in front of her before going back to get her own food._

_Adora thought back to the first time she met Mara she had asked what her favorite food was and she had said pancakes. So far Mara had made pancakes every morning for breakfast. Adora started working on her pancakes as Mara sat across from her with a plate and cup of coffee._

_Gross, Adora thought as she eyed the steaming liquid critically before taking a sip of her juice._

_“Are you excited about your first day at Sunnydale?” Mara asked and Adora shrugged. The truth was, she was nervous to be going to a new school. She didn’t know anyone and she was scared her teacher was going to be a goblin in disguise. But Adora didn’t want to upset Mara, so she continued to eat her breakfast in silence._

_“I heard your teacher likes to sing songs with the class,” Mara said after a while. The seven-year-old perked up and looked to see Mara giving her a kind smile._

_“Really?” she asked excitedly. She could feel some of her worries leave at Mara’s words._

_“I had a meeting with the principal to talk about your enrollment and he said that yours is one of the nicest teachers at the whole school.” A smile spread across Adora’s face and she began to eat quicker, excited to get back upstairs to get ready._

_Once she was done, she stood up, grabbed her blanket, and began to run to the stairs. She almost made it out of the kitchen before she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around._

_Adora stood up straight and looked at Mara straight in the eyes. “Thank you for breakfast,” she said in her most polite voice. Mara had been nice to her the last few days she’d been here, but she was beyond scared of doing something to upset her._

_“Of course, now go get ready for school,” at these words, Adora turned and continued her race back to her room._

_Adora almost made it to her room when she felt something furry sit on top of her._

* * *

Adora woke up to the feeling of her dog, Swiftwind, laying on top of her. She opened her eyes to find that her white-furred mutt was staring at her expectantly. The blonde reached a hand up to pet him as she slowly began to gain awareness.

Swiftwind jumped down from the bed when he felt Adora start to sit up and ran out of her bedroom door. Adora sat at the edge of her bed and slipped on a pair of flip flops before heading out to meet Swiftwind at the door.

Glimmer was standing in the kitchen already dressed for work and eating a bowl of cereal. “Good morning, sleepyhead!” Glimmer chirped from her spot next to Bow who was making a cup of coffee. Glimmer was wearing a dark purple pantsuit with her hair swept back and to the side, her typical work look. Adora had never been a big fan of skirts and opted to wear slacks and dress shirts to work, her hair in the same ponytail it had been in since she was little.

Bow grabbed a blue travel mug from the cupboard and poured some coffee into it before handing it to Adora. “Thanks, Bow,” she yawned. Bow was wearing a white sweater with red trim over a white button-down with dark jeans.

The trio, affectionately dubbed the Best Friend Squad by Bow, first moved in together during their junior year of college. Adora and Glimmer had been roommates before then and met Bow at orientation. They stuck with each other through everything college, and then life, could throw at them.

Glimmer’s mom was editor-in-chief at Etheria Times and helped them get internships there over the summer while they worked on their undergrad. Their hard work paid off in the form of jobs when they graduated. Bow, on the other hand, started with a shitty assistant job at Dryl Software starting their sophomore year and worked his way up the ranks to software architect. After graduation, they moved to downtown Etheria to start their adult lives.

Adora walked to where Swiftwind was waiting at the front door, his tail wagging excitedly. Grabbing his leash from the coat hanger and clipping it to his collar, Adora and Swiftwind left the apartment and made their way to the lawn, Adora idly sipping her hot coffee.

The duo made their usual track around the perimeter of the apartment complex before going back inside and filling Swiftwind’s water bowl. Adora quickly changed into her work clothes and, seeing that Glimmer had already vacated the premises, went to the parking garage.

“Took you long enough,” Glimmer huffed as Adora sat down in the car.

“You know I have to take care of Swiftwind before we leave!” Adora countered as Glimmer pulled out of the spot.

“That’s what you say every morning! But if you would just wake up a little earlier-” and so began the argument they had every morning. And, as always, it was forgotten as soon as they parked and headed into work. And, as always, Adora kept to herself the reason she always woke up late and the reason why she was always up long after her roommates went to sleep. It was easier to argue with Glimmer about the logistics of her morning routine than admit her nighttime routine.

* * *

Adora had just settled into her desk when Glimmer huffed over to her desk. “If you make us late one more time I am actually going to kill you,” Glimmer said. Adora knew that voice. What she really meant was _“if my mom gets on to me about being late one more time I’m going to kill something.”_

Everyone always thought it was so cool that Glimmer got to work with her mom, and Glimmer did too for a while, but now that her mom has the authority to comment on her personal and work habits, Glimmer has just about had it.

Adora sighed as Glimmer began going on another rant about how her mom never lets her do anything and some other stuff that Adora wasn’t paying much attention to. She logged on to her computer and began going through her emails and her notes for the day.

“Oh hey,” Glimmer said mid-rant. “My mom wanted me to remind you that you have to contact that lawyer about an interview,” she said and Adora flipped to the page in her notepad where she had started some brief notes about the lawyer. Glimmer looked at her screen as she began typing. “What are you interviewing her about, anyway?” Glimmer asked.

“I’m writing an exposé on child abuse in the foster system and she’s representing a guy who was abused as a child. The trial is tomorrow and I’m going to cover it as part of the story and hopefully get some good quotes from her,” Adora explained as she pulled up the website for the Hordak & Hordak Law Firm website. She clicked around until she found Catra de Leon’s page and copied down her contact information.

“Oh yeah, I think you told me about that,” she said thoughtfully. She looked like she was about to say something else when Adora saw someone approaching her desk out of the corner of her eye. Adora and Glimmer turned to see Frosta with a container of three coffee cups.  
“Hey guys!” she beamed as she set the container on Adora’s desk. “I got these at the Heart of Etheria, they make really good coffee,” she said as she handed the two women each a coffee. Frosta stood by, eagerly waiting to see their reaction. As soon as Glimmer took a sip- “do you like it? I know you like your coffee with a lot of sugar so I made sure she put extra! And usually, they have these little cake things and I was going to get you one but they were out, and then I thought about going to the donut store across the street but I was running out of time so I didn’t get any. But on the way here I saw this dog-”

“Thanks, Frosta!” Glimmer interrupted, no doubt sensing a five-minute-long rant about absolutely nothing coming on.

Frosta was an intern at Etheria Times and had taken an instant liking to Glimmer. Glimmer did photography and videography and that was what Frosta hoped to do as well. Frosta saw Glimmer as a role model and wanted to be just like her, she even joined the Etheria Princesses to be able to hang out with her outside of work.

Adora sipped the coffee, her other one gone before they made it to work. The coffee was good, and Adora thanked her before turning back to her computer. Frosta followed Glimmer back to her desk, rapid-fire asking questions ranging from work, to what Glimmer liked to watch on Netflix. Glimmer shot Adora a pleading look from her desk where Frosta was still lingering. Adora shrugged in response and Glimmer gave her a “you’re a little shit” look.

Chuckling to herself, Adora picked up her phone off her desk and dialed the number she found on the website. The phone rang and rang before eventually going to an answering machine. Adora hung up and called again. This time, after a few rings, someone picked up.

 _“Hello?”_ Adora was surprised to hear a man’s voice.

“Hello, this is Adora Woods with the Etheria Times, I’m looking for Catra de Leon?” Adora spoke into the mic.

 _“Oh right!”_ The man said. _“This is Kyle.”_

Silence.

Adora checked her phone to make sure the call was still connected.

“Can I speak to Catra de Leon, please?” she asked slowly, her patience wearing thinner and thinner with each excruciating second of silence.

_“Oh no, she’s not here right now.”_

Silence.

Adora pinched the bridge of her nose, “can I leave a message?” Adora’s words were clipped, she used every fiber of her being to keep from yelling at this man.

 _“Yeah sure, just let me get some paper.”_ There was the sound of shuffling and then, _“Okay, who’s speaking?”_

“Adora Woods, I’m a reporter at the Etheria Times,” she spoke as clearly as she could to prevent any misconception on the other end. “I would like to set up an interview for tomorrow after the case against Octavia Polypus.” There was some more silence and Adora prayed to God that he was writing everything down.

“ _Can I get a phone number or something?”_ He asked, and Adora gave him her number, repeating it twice just to be sure. After they hung up, Adora took a moment to calm down and sipped her coffee before turning back to her computer.

* * *

Adora sat in the breakroom with Glimmer and Perfuma. It was Perfuma’s turn to order lunch and she had chosen some vegetarian place called Plumeria.

“I have to admit,” Glimmer said around a mouth of tofu, “this is pretty good.” Adora hummed her agreement as she ate another bite of her veggie wrap.

“I keep trying to tell you guys that being vegetarian isn’t really that bad,” Perfuma said, pleased that they weren’t complaining about her

“This almost makes up for the time you told us you were getting McDonald’s and then gave us meatless chicken tenders,” Adora said. A sheepish look passed over Perfuma’s face but before Adora could say anything her phone began to buzz in her pocket. Pulling it out, she recognized the number she had called earlier. “I have to take this,” she said as she stood up and walked into the bathroom.

She answered the phone, “hello?” Her voice echoed off the walls of the empty bathroom.

 _“Is this Adora Woods?”_ The voice, thankfully female this time, said over the line.

“Yes! I’m a reporter with the Etheria Times and I was hoping-”

 _“Yeah, I got your message,”_ Catra said back impatiently. Again, silence. Adora was starting to wonder to what extent these wonderful phone manners went to at Hordak & Hordak. Yet despite the awful phone etiquette, Adora was drawn to the voice, and couldn't wait to hear it in person.

“So, is that a yes? It won’t take long, I’m just hoping to get a few quotes,” Adora said as she began to walk back and forward in the small space.

 _“Yeah, that’s fine,”_ Catra said and Adora sighed in relief.

“Thank you so much! I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Adora said. They exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

Adora returned to her spot at the table with Glimmer and Perfuma and resumed her meal.

“Was that the lawyer?” Glimmer asked.

“Yeah, she agreed to do it,” Adora said. Perfuma asked what they were talking about and Adora told her about the exposé.

“That’s great, Adora?” Perfuma said and Adora smiled her thanks.

“I would offer to come and take some pictures for you but I promised Frosta I would help her work on her editing skills tomorrow,” Glimmer said. She liked to act like Frosta was annoying, and maybe sometimes she was, but Adora knew that Glimmer liked having someone think she was super cool and always tried to help her succeed. Adora remembered what it was like to be an intern here and how intimidating it was to be around all these people with their lives figured out, and she knew Glimmer did too. Adora saw a lot of herself and Glimmer in Frosta, not so much outwardly, but she has a passion for photojournalism, and nothing is going to get in her way.

“Don’t worry about it,” Adora waved off her apologetic look. “I’m not going to have many pictures anyways,” Adora said.

They finished their lunch and returned to work. Adora finished up the Hometown Hero piece for the week and submitted it for editing before going onto the database to do some research for the exposé.

At the end of the day, she packed her bag and she and Glimmer made their way to Glimmer’s car.


	2. Chapter 2

Adora arrived at the courthouse on time, all on her own.

Not counting Bow taking care of Swiftwind’s morning routine.

And not counting Glimmer driving her here.

And maybe she had to skip breakfast and her morning coffee, but that’s beside the point.

All on her own.

Glimmer had insisted on Adora taking one of her cameras to take pictures.

“Glimmer, I can’t take pictures unless I have permission from the judge,” Adora reminded her, pushing the camera bag back into her best friend’s hands. 

“I had my mom call, all you need is to show security your press pass,” she retorted and pushed the bag into Adora’s chest.

So there she was, flashing her press pass at the security officer at the entrance of the courthouse and then handing over her bag for inspection before walking through the metal detector. 

“Make sure you wear your badge in a visible location at all times,” he said gruffly and Adora walked into the foyer. Clipping her pass onto the pocket of her white dress shirt, Adora looked around. 

The courthouse was one of the oldest buildings in Etheria. A lot of the other government buildings had gone through refurbishments, but the courthouse remained, minus some upgrades to the wiring and plumbing. The floors were made of polished tile with an intricate white and brown pattern filling the entryway. Grand arches carved out of dark mahogany starting from the floor and reaching all the way to the ceiling marked the entrances to different hallways, but the biggest one led to the short hallway to the main courtroom. There were a few benches along the concrete walls that a few people were sitting in, and in one of them sat a woman that Adora could not take her eyes off of. 

The woman, clearly of some importance, judging by the maroon three-piece suit and tie she was wearing, was talking to a man and woman in his late twenties. 

_Is that a pocket watch?_

Adora sat down on an empty bench, placing her messenger bag down next to her, and pulled out her phone, pretending to be doing something while sneaking peeks at the woman who she was starting to believe was Catra de Leon. She took a look again at the gold chain that snaked over one of the buttons of her vest and disappeared into a pocket. 

_Definitely a pocket watch,_ the reporter thought with a sigh. She continued with her leering. 

The attorney’s short brown hair was slicked neatly back with gel. A long piece fell across her face and remained there for a moment before a hand reached up to push it back into place and _yeah,_ Adora thought, _I would like to see that again._ Adora didn’t fail to notice the flash of the gold watch on the woman’s wrist.

There was a sudden bustle of movement as the doors to the courtroom opened and people began to file in. Adora grabbed her bag and spared one last look at Catra, but when she looked, she was gone. 

Adora found a spot with a good vantage point and prayed no one super tall sat in front of her. 

The reporter had sat in on her fair share of trials and the likes, but none captured her attention quite like this one. Maybe it was because she could relate to the topic, or maybe it was because of the hot lawyer, but Adora forgot about the camera until well after the trial was underway. 

Tytus Mills, the man Catra was speaking with and who was the one accusing Octavia Polypus of child abuse, was at the witness stand when she started taking pictures. She took a few pictures of him as he gave his testimony. Adora could see the pain in his eyes as he recounted events from his childhood, and she knew this couldn’t be easy for him. She admired his strength and knew that because of him, there would be one less monster in the world. 

Catra asked him some questions and Adora used the camera as an excuse to get another look at her. She turned to face the jury and Adora saw for the first time she had two different colored eyes, one blue and one a startling yellow. Adora took some more pictures of Catra and admired the way the deep marron of her suit contrasted nicely with the olive tone of her skin. Adora took some pictures of Octavia as Catra called her next witness to the stand. From the lense, Adora saw a look of surprise and then anger wash over the woman’s face as the witness walked up to the stand.

Adora looked and her heart broke. There on the stand was a boy no older than 6 years old. He was wearing a polo with little slacks and his shaggy dark hair was combed back. Catra asked him some questions about the house he lived in, what kind of food he was given at home, and how Miss Polypus treated him. He complained about having to share a room with five other kids, he talked about how she fed them once a day and gave them hardly any lunch money for school. When he started talking about how she treated them, more specifically how she disciplined them, Adora knew she wasn’t the only one burning with rage. She looked towards the jury stand and saw the anger in their eyes at the words of this poor boy. Catra continued to ask him questions about it, and every answer tugged on Adora's heart. One woman began to cry silently, quickly wiping her eyes. Adora took a picture. There were a few more kids called to the stand and all of them had different horror stories from their time at Octavia’s house. Each time they went up, Catra would gently take their little hands in hers and walk them to the stand and then back to the bench when they were done. Adora felt a clench in her heart at the gesture.

A TV monitor was rolled out from somewhere and on display were pictures of Octavia’s house. The first was a picture of the kids’ room. There were 6 small and ragged mattresses shoved into a small room with no sheets on them. There was a dresser against one wall that was missing a leg and only had two of the four drawers. The next picture was of the sink cupboard that the boy said they had to sit in when they were bad. There was a jug of water in there and a bar of soap. 

There were a few more pictures of the house that was barely fit for life before Octavia’s lawyer went up. He said some lines about the kids lying and that Tytus was just after money before Octavia went to the stand. She was a haggard old woman, with more than a few teeth missing and patches of hair missing from her balding head. She went on about how she loved the kids and had for the 23 years she’d been taking in foster kids and wouldn’t do anything to hurt them and _blah blah blah._ Adora tuned her out as she took a few pictures of her and the unforgiving jury. 

She was found guilty, Adora was sure even her lawyer wasn’t surprised, and was sentenced to life in prison. Adora got some pictures of her being escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs and of the kids cheering and embracing each other. 

Adora put the camera away and waited for most of the room to clear before exiting as well. A few people were lingering around so Adora easily spotted Catra talking with Tytus and a woman. Catra was pulled into an awkward hug by the man as the woman affectionately rubbed his back. 

Looking around for a spot to wait for the lawyer in the short hallway in front of the courtroom, Adora spotted the crying woman from the jury. Adora walked over and sat on the bench next to her. She looked up.

“Hi, my name is Adora Woods, I’m with the Etheria Times,” she quickly flashed her press pass that was clipped to her shirt. “Can I talk with you for a moment, maybe get a few quotes for an exposé I’m working on?” Adora sat without letting her finish and pulled her recorder and worn leather journal out of her bag. 

“Uh, sure?” The woman looked at the recorder skeptically before meeting Adora’s eyes. Her brown eyes were still a little red from when she had been crying but she looked less distressed than before.

Adora switched on the recorder and set it on her lap. She said the date and time before asking the woman’s name. “Leslie Jackson,” she said. Adora asked for the spelling and wrote it down in her journal.

“So, Leslie, I couldn’t help but notice you were getting upset during the trial,” Adora said.

“Yes, well, who wouldn’t?” Leslie began. “It’s heartbreaking, what those kids have gone through. I can only imagine how scared they are, the awful things they’ve had to endure,” she stopped suddenly and closed her eyes, Adora could tell she was trying to keep from crying again. Adora scribbled in her journal. They spoke for a little bit until Leslie said her ride was there to pick her up. 

“It was a pleasure talking with you, here’s my card if you have any questions or change your mind,” Adora said and reached into an outside pocket of her bag to retrieve a business card and hand it to the woman. They said their goodbye’s and Adora looked over to see Catra sitting on the bench across the hall from her, looking right at her. She had one arm draped over the back of the bench with one leg crossed over the other, the light gleaming against her black leather oxfords and _oh. I am very gay._

Adora cleared her throat, pulled the strap of her bag across her shoulders, and walked towards the awaiting lawyer. “Hi there,” she said and then internally cringed. _Not exactly the best way to greet a super hot lawyer,_ Adora thought to herself as she held out her hand. “I’m Adora Woods, we spoke on the phone,”

“I figured,” the lawyer said, accepting the offered hand and giving it a firm shake. 

“Catra de Leon,” she said, dropping her hand. Adora had just listened to Catra talk for a long time, but hearing it up close and having that calculating gaze directed at her was a whole other experience. 

The lawyer opened her mouth to say something else when a loud grumble erupted from Adora’s belly. She was suddenly reminded that she had sacrificed breakfast for punctuality and it was well past her lunchtime. 

Now she was paying the price. 

Catra smirked at her, “hungry?” Adora shrugged sheepishly, all of her mojo lost to something that could have been avoided with a granola bar. She was suddenly reminded of her college days. 

_Remember to bring a snack with you to class in case you get hungry and don’t have time to grab lunch,_ Mara would say during their weekly phone calls. Every care package she received had at least one box of snack bars. 

She wished she had transferred the advice to her work life. 

Of course, Bow was always encouraging Adora and Glimmer to bring snacks since “you never know when you’re going to suddenly need to go out into the field, and what if you have to miss lunch!” 

Adora was pulled out of her thoughts by Catra giving her an amused look. 

“I know this place nearby, they have decent pastries and good coffee,” Catra offered. Adora nodded and Catra stood up and grabbed her briefcase from where it was resting on the ground next to her. Adora was surprised to see that Catra was a little bit shorter than her. Her commanding presence in the courtroom made her seem larger than life, not that the new revelation about her height changed how intimidating she was.

“Sounds great,” Adora said and they began walking towards the exit. 

They made it all the way outside and to the sidewalk before Adora remembered Glimmer had dropped her off.

“Do you think,” Adora started and Catra turned to face her, stopping the reporter in her tracks. Catra raised an eyebrow. “Could you maybe give me a ride,” Adora’s words became quieter as she asked and she found a very interesting rock on the ground to fixate on. 

The sound of laughter snapped her gaze to the lawyer to find that she was laughing. The high pitched squeaks did something to Adora but she stood her ground. “You are such a bum!” Catra laughed before walking off towards the parking lot, leaving Adora standing alone. Suddenly Catra turned and furrowed her brows, “are you coming, or what?” she called. Taking this as an invitation, Adora quickly followed. 

* * *

Adora found herself in the passenger seat of a _very_ nice and sleek black car. 

“It’s a ‘69 Camaro,” Catra explained when they had walked up to it and Adora didn’t believe it was her car. “It was a gift from my boss,” Adora made a face.

“I don’t think bosses are supposed to give their employees insanely expensive cars,” Adora said as she climbed into the red and black leather exterior. 

“You forgot to mention custom,” Catra said with a smirk as the engine purred to life. She slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses, pushed back the unruly strand of hair, and peeled out of the parking lot.

And that was the end of that conversation. 

“Congratulations, I guess? That was a pretty big win,” Adora said into the quiet cabin of the car. She wasn’t sure what the etiquette was for this sort of thing. 

Catra just hummed in response. Adora tried a different approach.

“Thanks for agreeing to do this, I know you must be very busy,” Adora said. 

“What are you interviewing me about, again?” Catra asked and glanced at Adora from behind her dark shades. 

“I’m writing an exposé on child abuse in the foster system,” _how many times am I going to have to say that._ “I’m featuring Mills vs Polypus as a part of it and was hoping that you could be a source since you work in the child welfare branch of Hordak & Hordak,” Adora explained. “With your background and experience in the legal field, I think this could be a great addition to my work.”

This time, Catra turned her whole head to stare at Adora for a few seconds before turning back to the road. She was silent for a while, and Ador was scared she was going to change her mind about the whole thing.

“I would have left a longer message,” Adora began quickly, hoping to mend anything she might have tarnished, “but your assistant seems a little...incompetent,” Adora said slowly. She hoped that Catra also knew this and wouldn’t take offense. Instead, she just looked confused.

“What assistant?” she asked. Now it was Adora’s turn to be confused.

“Kyle?” Catra rolled her eyes.

“Kyle is most certainly _not_ my assistant,” she said. “He’s the copy guy and he heard my phone ringing and decided to answer it without my permission,” she sounded angry, and Adora didn’t blame her, Kyle was not meant for such a demanding job.

Catra put the car in park and Adora hadn’t even realized they had pulled into a parking lot. She looked to see where they were.

_The Heart of Etheria,_ the sign said. Adora couldn’t figure out why the name sounded familiar.

The quaint shop was sandwiched between a comic book shop and an old thrift shop. Adora recognized the area, they weren’t far from her apartment. 

The reporter followed her companion inside and was immediately met by the smell of coffee and something decidedly comfortable. 

It reminded her of the feeling she would get when she’d go home for the weekends during college. 

Catra waltzed up to the counter like she owned the place, one hand shoved casually into her pants pocket while the other one tucked her sunglasses into the inside pocket of her jacket. 

“Madame Razz,” Catra called into the empty shop. An old woman with thick, round glasses emerged from a door leading to a room behind the counter. She had long white hair that cascaded down her back and brushed the back of her knees. She had an old broom in her hand that she propped against the wall.

“Ah, Catra, dearie!” Madame Razz said, her voice as old as her. “I was wondering when you would be back,” she shuffled over to the register. Catra ordered an iced coffee with some sort of syrup and a lettuce wrap. She watched as Madame Razz leaned in and whispered conspiratorially with Catra for a few seconds while Catra paid, Adora trying to discern their words the whole time. All she could make out were the words “date” and “cute.”

Adora stepped up to the counter as Catra went to go sit at a table. “Can I have a black coffee and a turkey sandwich, please.” Adora began to pull out her wallet.

“Of course, dearie,” the old woman beamed. “Can I get a name for the order?” She asked as she punched some buttons on the cash register.

Adora spared a glance around the empty establishment before answering. “Adora.”

Madame Razz faltered her movements for a moment before continuing her actions. She told Adora her total and Adora handed her some cash. As Madame Razz handed back her change, she caught Adora’s hand and held her gaze. “That’s a very lovely name,” she said before letting her go. Adora pocketed the change and brushed off the exchange before joining Catra. 

The table she picked was on the far wall in between two huge bookcases filled with what looked to be primarily fantasy novels. Adora took her spot across from the lawyer and pulled out her journal and recorder. 

“Why do you have a recorder and a journal? Isn’t that a little redundant?” The lawyer asked as Adora flipped to a new page and began to title the page.

She shrugged, “the recorder can get the words someone says, but I like to be able to note what a person looks like as they’re speaking, their facial expressions and gestures. Words are good for communication, sure, but body language is where you get intent.”

Catra eyed her skeptically but didn’t say anything else.

One of the things Adora loved most about her job was getting to talk to people and connect with them. To hear their stories and relate their emotions and convictions to a wide audience. Getting to share these experiences with the city of Etheria was something Adora considered a privilege, 

Madame Razz came by then and served them their food and drinks before disappearing to the back again. Not before throwing Catra a not-so-subtle wink and thumbs up. Adora was a little surprised that they were given real mugs and plates, but it only added to the charm of the quaint shop. The lighting was low but visibility was still very good. The room was decorated in dark, warm tones that brought the whole vibe together. 

They took a moment to start their food before Adora turned on her recorder. She did her routine of saying the name, date, and who and why before turning to Catra. Adora tracked her hand as it pushed back that unruly strand of hair before meeting Catra’s sharp eyes.

“Let’s do this.”

* * *

They talked for a while, and it was nice.

Adora asked her some questions about her work with child welfare and why Hordak & Hordak decided to have a branch dedicated to it. Catra revealed that she was in the foster system and didn’t have the best experience. 

Adora was a little surprised to learn that John Hordak, one of the managing partners of the firm, adopted Catra when she was 12 years old. 

Adora was also surprised that Catra seemed to hold some contentment with this fact. She refused to answer any personal questions regarding Hordak adopting her, other than he wanted her to go to law school, so she did. 

Hordak had seen how bad children could be treated and knew that by opening a private branch of child wellness services, he could use his extensive resources to do good. 

“And I mean,” Catra had said around a bite of her wrap, “ _extensive_ resources.” A lightbulb clicked in Adora’s head.

“He bought you your car, then?” Catra just nodded. Adora sipped her coffee and continued with her questions. 

Catra told her some statistics from off the top of her head that she was familiar with, Adora made a note to fact check them for certainty. 

Adora asked her questions about what kind of cases she worked with, how often she had to go to court, what other groups or organizations she had to work with. 

By the time they were finished and Adora was satisfied with the answers she got, several hours had passed, their food and drinks long gone, even after Razz came by to give them refills. There was hardly a point in going back to the office, but she knew she should probably check in with Angella. 

Catra cleaned up their mess and took it to the bin for dirty dishes while Adora packed up her stuff. Madame Razz reappeared from the back and wished them a nice day as the pair walked out into the fading light. 

The ride back to the Etheria Times headquarters was silent except for Adora giving directions. Adora could tell that some of the things they talked about were sensitive subjects for Catra, so Adora didn’t press the topic. She could relate. 

Throughout the ride, Catra kept glancing at Adora with her split colored eyes. Eyes that Adora had a hard time not staring at through the course of their interview. 

Catra slowed to a stop of the entrance of the office building and out her car in park. 

“Well this was nice,” she started, one hand still on the wheel as she leaned her elbow onto the armrest. 

“Thank you again for doing this,” Adora said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. “Here’s my card if you have any questions or change your mind about being in it,” Adora offered the card to Catra who took it and examined it before tucking it into her jacket pocket. 

“Thanks for the ride,” Adora said as she climbed out of the door and shouldered her bag. The lawyer nodded and Adora closed the door behind her and waved through the window. She had started to walk the steps to reach the doot when she heart Catra call out to her.

She turned to see the lawyer had rolled the passenger window down and was leaning so she could see Adora. “I’m looking forward to reading your thing, or whatever,” she said and nodded at her before zipping out of the parking lot. 

Adora watched her pull onto the main road before going inside.

* * *

Glimmer was still at her desk when she got back.

_Thank god,_ Adora thought with relief. On more than one occasion Glimmer has left her at work because she was so engrossed in her work. 

Adora weaved through the desks that littered the massive office floor until she was in Glimmer’s space. “You’re back!” Glimmer exclaimed with a wide smile. “Things around here were super boring and Frosta took it upon herself to fill in our absence with herself.” 

Adora laughed as she pulled out the camera from her bag. “I did end up taking some pictures, do you think you could edit them?” Glimmer took the camera and plugged it into her computer to get a better look. Adora stood next to Glimmer, one hand on the back of her chair and the other leaning on the desk so she could get a better view.

They clicked through the pictures, Adora pointing out the ones she wanted to use, and Glimmer made a new file for them on her computer.

A picture of Catra popped up and Glimmer’s jaw dropped. 

“Is that the lawyer you interviewed?” She asked, zooming in on her face.

“Yeah, that’s Catra,” Adora sighed, taking no shame in admiring the lawyer now that she couldn’t catch her. 

“She is-”

“Smoking hot?” Glimmer finished for her, clicking through more pictures of the lawyer. 

“I was going to say good at her job, but that too.” Adora thought about their conversation at the coffee shop. “She also grew up in the foster system, her adoptive dad co-owns the firm she works at,” she said.

Glimmer saved the pictures before unplugging the camera and turning off her computer. “You can tell me all about your meeting with the sexy lawyer on the way home, Bow wants to get sandwiches and they close soon,” Adora watched as Glimmer began packing her things. Adora hadn’t unpacked so she was ready to go. 

“I’m just going to check in with Angella really quick and then we can head out,” Adora said and Glimmer waved her off with a “hurry!”

The door to Angella’s office was closed, so Adora knocked. She heard a faint “come in,” so she slowly opened the door. 

Angella was sitting at her desk, reading glasses on as she read something on her computer screen. Adora knew better than to interrupt her so she sat at one of the chairs in front of her desk and waited for her boss to be done.

After a few minutes, Angella looked up and her face lit up when she recognized Adora. “Hello, Adora, dear,” the woman said. She reached for a ponytail holder on her desk and pulled her long, wavy locks into a ponytail at the base of her neck. “ How can I help you?” Her voice was kind, as always. 

Well, unless you didn’t do your job, but Adora could never.

“I’m good, just checking in since I wasn’t really at the office today,” Adora said, feeling unusually relaxed at being in her boss’s office. 

Of course, she didn’t think many people were best friends with their boss’s daughter, let alone living with them.

“That’s alright, you told me beforehand that you were going to be out, but thank you for checking in,” Angella said, giving Adora a soft smile. “How did it go, by the way?” Angella asked, resting her chin in her palm. 

“It went well,” Adora said, relaxing into her chair. “The trial went as expected, and the interview was very insightful.” 

“You’ve been doing a wonderful job so far, I’m very excited to read your piece when it’s done,” Adora felt her heart soar at Angella’s words. Even now as an adult it felt weird getting praised for her work. Not that Mara wasn’t an avid believer in positive reinforcement, but old habits die hard. 

“Thank you, that means a lot coming from you,” Adora said sincerely. The reporter held much revere for the woman sitting in front of her in many regards. Angella was a phenomenal writer and an equally great mentor. While in college, Angella had helped Adora improve her writing and flesh out her resumé with extensive recommendation letters and references. 

“I would love to chat but it seems that my daughter is rather anxious to get going,” Angella’s gazed fixated on something outside her office window. Adora turned in her seat to see Glimmer standing a foot away from the office window, staring directly in. When she caught Adora’s eye, she motioned to hurry up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Adora,” Angella said and Adora bid her goodbye before shouldering her bag and exiting the office. Glimmer waved to her mom before walking with Adora to the elevators, Glimmer filling Adora in on what happened that day.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!!  
> Chapter 1 was a lot shorter than this cuz it was more of an introduction and to just kind of establish some groundwork so we could really get into it this chapter. Expect chapters to be about this length from now on!  
> I’m not sure if I’ll be able to update on a regular basis so just bear with me!  
> Thanks again for reading and for the kudos! Next chapter is Catra’s POV (!!!)  
> (also sorry for any mistakes, I don't have a beta or anything)


	3. Chapter 3

Catra

* * *

Catra snorted at the email Rogelio sent her. 

**_From: catra.deleon@hordakhordak.com_ **

_ If his head gets any bigger we’ll have to legally register him as a bobblehead _

The lawyer typed before hitting send. She clicked back over to the tab she was on and, with a sigh, kept reading. A strand of hair fell across her face and she reached up to push it back into place.

Catra liked her job, she really did, but sometimes it was excruciating, especially because of some of the people she worked with. 

Looking around her office, she tried to find  _ anything  _ to alleviate the mass boredom she was feeling. There were two leather seats across from her oak desk, a trashcan by the door, and a plant in the corner. 

A message notification popped up at the bottom of her screen.

**_From: rogelio.ramos@hordakhordak.com_ **

_ hahahahahahahahaha _

Catra was glad she started talking to Rogelio, there weren’t many people around the firm her age, so it was nice to have someone she could make fun of the old people with. She would make fun of Kyle, too, but he was married to Rogelio, so she didn’t want to push her luck. 

There was a knock on the door. Catra looked up and saw Hordak standing in the doorway and her heart froze, terrified he had somehow seen her email thread with Rogelio.

Split-colored eyes fell to the corgi tie and she relaxed in her seat, standing before her was  _ Wrong  _ Hordak. Sometimes having twins for your bosses was extremely terrifying and confusing, especially when one was your adoptive dad and also a hardass. 

“Hey, Wrong Hordak,” Catra said, leaning back casually in her chair.

Wrong Hordak fixed her with a look, “how many times do I have to tell you, it’s  _ Uncle  _ Wrong Hordak,” he smiled at her. 

Everyone around the firm had been scared when Steven had learned about the nickname, but he accepted it in stride. While both Hordak brothers were managing partners of the firm, John Hordak was an attorney while Steven Hordak was the financial manager. People always got them confused and would go to Steven with questions for John, and so Wrong Hordak was born. Even Catra, who had known both of them for the majority of her life, could only tell them apart if they were standing next to each other. 

They both had the same short graying hair slicked back and intense green eyes. Though Wrong Hordak’s were infinitely kinder. They were both tall and lean and dressed almost exactly the same, save for Wrong Hordak’s affinity for fun ties. 

“I just came by for a chat, see how you’re doing,” he said, his face as kind as usual. Catra truly did enjoy spending time with her uncle, even if she openly denied it. They didn’t talk often, but the lawyer enjoyed it when they did. 

_ Still more of an effort than Hordak,  _ she thought bitterly. 

Catra told him about the trial from the day before and on some policy stuff she was advising on. Wrong Hordak listened and asked her some questions about her work, but never trying to tell her what or how she should be doing things. 

_ Unlike some  _ other  _ people named Hordak. _

After a while, he said he had to get back to work, He gave Catra a two-fingered salute and a wink as he left the office. 

Catra watched him leave and decided she deserved a break. Pushing away from her desk, the lawyer stood up and stretched her back before meandering to the breakroom. 

Pulling down a mug from the cupboard, Catra walked over to the instant coffee maker and nearly smashed her mug on the floor. 

Taped onto the side of it was a note that said,

_ Broke the coffee maker again, sorry. _

_ Love, Kyle _

Catra was sure she saw her brain with how hard she rolled her eyes. The lawyer picked up the coffee maker and walked right back to her office, dropping the coffee maker onto the floor next to her briefcase. 

This happened often, Kyle would  _ somehow  _ break the coffee maker, Catra would take it home, Entrapta would fix it, Catra brings it back to the firm, rinse, repeat. 

Deciding she still didn’t want to get back to working, Catra opened a new browser and pulled up a website she had opened earlier but quickly closed. She clicked on a few tabs and scrolled until she found the page of a certain blonde hair, blue-eyed reporter. 

Adora’s page on the Etheria Time’s website was pretty bare, it had her name, her position at Etheria times, and a short bio. 

She learned that Adora majored in journalism at Grayskull University and interned at Etheria Times during the summer. There wasn’t much else except for some links to articles and columns that she wrote. 

Catra hated to admit it, but she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the reporter.  _ Adora.  _ Even before she’d started talking Catra was attracted to her. She radiated confidence and  _ damn  _ was she beautiful. 

Not to mention Catra could see her muscles trying to bust out of the sleeves of her dress shirt.

Sighing, Catra closed out the tab and prepared for the meeting she had with a client.

* * *

A few hours after her client had left, there was another knock on her door. 

The lawyer looked up and instantly regretted it when she saw Imp standing in the doorway. His bleach-blonde hair was pushed back into a wavy quiff and he was wearing a white dress shirt with a black and red sweater vest. 

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” He asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. 

Catra returned to her computer screen, typing out a message to Rogelio.

**_From: catra.deleon@hordakhordak.com_ **

_ the bitch is back. call 911 cuz I might actually kill him this time _

Out of the corner of her eye, Catra saw him sit in one of the chairs. She ignored him. 

“Did you read over the files I sent you,” he asked finally. 

Sighing, Catra opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out the manilla folder with the files. “Unfortunately, yes,” Catra said, finally looking at the college student sitting across from her. He was leaning heavily on one side of the chair, his head lazily being cradled by the arm resting on the armrest. 

_ God _ , did she want to punch that self-satisfied smirk right off his stupid face.

Imp was attending Etheria University School of Law but had an internship at Hordak & Hordak. He really only did basic stuff like filing, but occasionally he did other stuff like trial prep and legal research. Catra had, against her will, tasked him with helping her do courtroom prep for an upcoming case. 

“So what did you think?” Judging by his tone, he thought he cracked life’s greatest mysteries. 

“Honestly,” Catra started, “it was complete and utter shit.” The smirk instantly fell from Imp’s stupid face. 

“ _ What? _ ” He demanded, smugness replaced by rage. “That was good preparation! I covered all the bases!” He was sitting up fully now, his hands gripping the armrests. 

“No, it was shit. You didn’t visit the courtroom to see what kind of technology they have available for use, your prepared witness questions are awful and full of leading statements that are sure to get objected, there are hardly any visuals and the ones you do have are shit, and you didn’t even make any notes about the allegations or evidence. We’re not even going to start about how you have little-to-nothing about the law in here,” she could feel her body temperature rising the more she spoke and the angrier she got. “You need to stop half-assing these assignments, I know they’re teaching you better than this at U of E, so act like it!” she growled and she saw him grip the armrest tighter. 

“They are good!” he retorted. “You’re just jealous because I haven’t even graduated yet and I’m already going to be a better lawyer than you’ll ever be!” Catra took absolutely no offense to his words. He said that same line about fifty times a day to every person here, even Kyle, who worked the front desk and made copies. “I bet Hordak would agree with me,” he said, leaning back in his chair, smug smile reattached to his stupid face. 

_ That little shit,  _ Catra thought. Leave it to him to bring  _ him  _ into this. But Catra knew she was right. 

“Okay, Junior, if you’re so confident why don’t we go visit dear old dad right now and see what he has to say about it,” she smirked as the smile slowly fell from his face. 

“W-what,” he faltered. 

“Well if you’re so confident in your prep work, let’s go see if you’re right,” Catra knew she had won. She could tell by the way Imp started to shift uncomfortably in his seat and look around nervously. He didn’t say anything. 

Catra smirked, “that’s what I thought.” The lawyer stood up with the file in her hands and circled the desk. “Now, I want you to listen to what I said, and make me another prep file,” she unceremoniously dumped the file in the trash. 

“Hey!” Imp protested. “I could have still used some of that,” he looked angry but made no motion to move. 

Catra rolled her eyes. “What part of complete and utter shit don’t you understand? You need to redo the whole thing, I don’t care how long it takes. I won’t have you making an embarrassment of this firm, Junior,” her voice was stern.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” Imp stood up and faced his adoptive sister. 

“And I told you to prepare me a competent prep file, so it looks like neither of us is going to get what we want,” and with that, Catra walked back to her desk and plopped into her chair. 

After a few moments, Imp still hadn’t left, even after Catra had gone back to her computer. “Don’t you have a file to be putting together,” she said without looking up. She heard Imp scoff before he quite literally stomped away. 

**_From: catra.deleon@hordakhordak.com_ **

_ baby is going off to throw a tantrum :’( _

* * *

Catra had never been so happy to see the door to her apartment. 

Of course, having that same thought every day kind of defeated the purpose. Whatever. She was so ready to shake off the stress from the day. Between Imp’s pompousness and high strung clients, Catra was ready to lay down for several hours undisturbed.

With the broken coffee maker under one arm and her briefcase in the other, she kicked at the door for someone to let her in. There was a muffled “one second!” before the door swung open a few seconds later. 

Standing before her in a pink frilly apron was Scorpia, 6 feet of pure muscle and kindness. “Welcome home!” Catra’s roommate said. “Dinner is almost ready,” she stepped aside to let Catra through before closing the door behind her and going back to the kitchen. 

Catra’s mouth almost watered at the savory aroma of baked chicken as it wafted through the house. The lawyer looked over into the kitchen to see Scorpia stirring a pot of what looked like mac and cheese. 

“Is Entrapta home?” Catra asked, fishing her keys out of her pocket and hanging them on one of the hooks by the door. Scorpia told Catra that she was in her room and then started singing some show tune. 

The first stop Catra made was to her room. It wasn’t anything fancy, Scorpia had helped decorate it when she moved in. 

Well, more like after 6 months of moving in, the only furniture Catra had was a bed and dresser, prompting Scorpia to drag her to the nearest furniture store to get a nightstand and some decorations that Catra didn’t hate. 

There were a few posters on the walls and a picture of Catra when she graduated from the University of Etheria. 

Tossing her briefcase on the bed and setting the coffee pot on the floor, Catra shrugged out of her work clothes and put them with the rest of the stuff to go to the dry cleaners before slipping into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She grabbed the coffee pot and walked across the short hallway to Entrapta’s room. 

The lawyer knocked once and then walked in, knowing the likelihood of getting a response was slim to none. 

As suspected, Entrapta was sitting at her computer, furiously typing out code as she muttered quietly to herself. 

“Kyle broke the coffee maker again, do you think you could fix it?” Catra asked, even though she knew the answer. The lawyer walked across the room to the bed, stepping over computer parts and stray pieces of paper along the way. 

“Yes, sounds good. I was just thinking about some new ways to increase the water heating capacity of ours, so I can test it out on this one,” Entrapta didn’t stop typing the whole time she talked. Catra threw a “thanks” over her shoulder before going into the small bathroom. 

Cupping some water into her hands, Catra reached up and tousled her gelled hair, messing it back into the unruly fluff she liked. She swept her bangs off to the side before heading back into the kitchen, just in time for Scorpia to announce that dinner was ready before going to get Entrapta. 

Catra made herself a plate of chicken, mac and cheese, and vegetables before sitting down at the circular dining table at the other end of the kitchen. 

Scorpia came back then, Entrapta bounding happily behind her, purple pigtails swinging, as she spoke animatedly into the microphone about something Catra had no idea about. 

They made plates before joining Catra. Entrapta was still talking into the recorder so Scorpia fixed her with a pointed look. “You know the rules,” she said and Entrapta sighed.

“No work at the table,” she recited before shutting off her recorder and beginning to scarf down her food. They ate in silence for a few minutes. 

The lawyer felt a buzz in her pocket and pulled out her phone to read the new email. Scorpia made a noise of protest before pointing at the phone. Catra sighed and rolled her eyes but pocketed the device anyways.

Catra may huff and puff at Scorpia’s rules for around the house, but deep down she appreciated them a lot. 

Well, she appreciated the idea of them. The idea of someone caring enough to want to make sure Catra and Entrapta ate meals and enjoyed them. Scorpia owned and worked at a fitness center called Fright Zone Fitness so she worked her schedule so that she got home before Catra and Entrapta. It was little stuff like that that made the lawyer feel loved and cared for. She knew Entrapta felt the same and needed it as much as she did. 

“So, I have some news!” Scorpia said, enthusiastic as ever. “Huntara, one of the trainers at the Fright Zone, is part of the local roller derby team and scored us some tickets,” she said with a proud smile. Catra sighed. The “ _ you have to go somewhere on-work related at least once a week”  _ rule. It had mostly been made to keep Entrpata from staying in her room for days at a time and it kept Catra from sleeping through the weekends. 

“Sounds great,” Catra said before stuffing a forkful of chicken into her mouth while Scorpia went on about roller derby, Entrapta interjecting with questions every now and then. 

After dinner, Catra and Entrapta cleaned up the dishes and put away the leftovers before retreating into their rooms. 

In her room, Catra pulled out her laptop from under her bed and began to sort through some emails. She opened the one she got during dinner and was a little surprised to see it was from Rogelio.

**_From: rogelio.ramos@hordakhordak.com_ **

_ Hey, Catra _

_ Kyle and I could use your help with something. As you know, we’ve been trying to find a way to start a family and we think we’ve found someone who has agreed to give us her baby after its born. We figured you would be able to help us write a contract to make everything official. We can talk more about it at the office and hopefully set up a meeting with us and her. _

_ Best, Rogelio _

Usually, when Catra and Rogelio emailed each other, it was to complain about Imp or send memes, and there was definitely no introduction or sign off. Catra really did enjoy his company and she was a little flattered that he had decided to ask her to do such an important thing. She quickly wrote back a response.

**_From: catra.deleon@hordakhordak.com_ **

_ Rogelio, _

_ I am honored that you would ask me to do such an important thing. Come by during your lunch break so we can talk about it. _

_ Catra _

The lawyer closed her laptop and turned in for the night, shooting a quick goodnight text to the Super Pal Trio group chat before closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

* * *

Catra sighed into her cup of coffee the next day. Kyle had offered her an apologetic smile when she walked into the break room with it, now fixed. 

Hordak had sent out a long email about new policies or something else that she didn’t care much about. Sure, she was a lawyer, but that didn’t mean she wanted to read an excruciatingly long email about filing protocol and breakroom etiquette. 

There was a knock on her door, Catra looked up to find Rogelio and Kyle standing at her door. She motioned for them to come inside and they sat in the chairs across from her. “So what’s this about some lady giving you her baby?” The lawyer asked, pulling up an empty word document on her computer. 

“Well,” Rogelio started, “her name is Lonnie Davis and she’s 25 years old. She got pregnant a few months ago and isn’t planning on keeping the baby due to financial reasons but wants to make sure she goes to a good home, which is what we want to give her.” 

Catra wasn’t sure she’d ever heard Rogelio speak this much. He was hilarious over email but he hardly ever spoke. 

Kyle spoke next, “since you work with child welfare we figured you would be able to write up a good contract for us, one that fits our purposes.” 

“I’d love to.”

They talked for a while about what they wanted the contract to include, Catra typing what they said and notes on her computer. Kyle and Rogelio were going to have Lonnie move in with them and take care of all her medical expenses and other personal care during her pregnancy. They explained that they had an extra room that they’re going to turn into a nursery that she can stay in and that all she’ll have to worry about is staying healthy. 

“What about the father of the baby?” Catra asked after they told her the basis they wanted to cover. 

“He wants nothing to do with her or the baby,” Kyle said, looking crestfallen. Catra was confused because this meant that they got a baby, but she supposed he was feeling for Lonnie and the baby, having a douche for a sperm donor seems less than ideal.

The couple left after Catra had gotten all the information they needed and Catra began organizing the information into something she could begin to work on. 

Catra didn’t really know much about Kyle and Rogelio’s relationship, they were pretty private about their personal lives, but she was happy that they were going to get to start a family. She was extra happy that they were going to take in a child that might have been subjected to who knows what, had she been put in the system. 

Catra began reading over a case file for an upcoming meeting she was having with a client, scribbling notes and underling important information. 

Her desk phone began to ring. She reached over and picked it up.

“This is Catra de Leon,” she answered, leaning back in her chair and twirling her pen in her free hand. 

“ _ Hello, this is Adora Woods, from the Etheria Times?”  _ The reporter phrased the last part as a question, as if she wasn’t sure the lawyer had remembered. 

She had definitely remembered. 

“Miss me already?” Catra purred into the receiver, a sly smirk tugging on her lips. 

“ _ You wish _ ,” Catra could practically hear Adora smirking. “ _ The Etheria Times would like to congratulate you on being nominated for next week’s Hometown Hero vlog! While your nominator wishes to remain anonymous, they would like to thank you for all of your contributions and donations to The Salineas Youth Foundation!”  _ Catra felt her jaw go slack and she dropped her pen onto the desk. That was definitely  _ not  _ what she was expecting. 

“ _ If you would like to accept, we would like to set up a meeting sometime this week for an interview,” _ Adora’s voice was completely professional, and the Lawyer thought it was pretty hot. She had always sort of had a thing for Louis Lane, and Adora with all her arm muscles and charm was  _ much  _ better than an annoying comic book character. 

“I would be happy to accept,” she replied. The lawyer had secretly been hoping their paths would cross again, and she could hardly contain her excitement at the thought of seeing Adora again. 

_ “Great! What time would be best for you?”  _ Catra couldn’t help but notice that Adora seemed just as excited to see her too.

They agreed on Thursday during Catra’s lunch break. Adora was going to be conducting the interview while some girl named Glitter or Shimmer video recorded it to upload on the website. 

_ “So, Thursday, then?” _

“Thursday.”

_ “I look forward to seeing you-  _ speaking  _ with you!”  _ Adora tried to cover it, but Catra had heard.

“See you then,” and with that she hung up, smirk back on her lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Adora

* * *

Adora fiddled with her phone, locking and unlocking it, contemplating. It was Thursday, and she and Glimmer were going to leave any minute to go meet Catra. Once Glimmer got done packing all her recording equipment they were going to leave, get sandwiches, then go to the law firm. All she was going to do was shoot a simple text asking what kind of sandwich Catra wanted, so _why_ was she so nervous?   
  


_Fuck it._

Steeling her nerves, Adora typed out a simple message and sent it before she could think too much about it. 

**_Adora_ **

_Hey, we’re picking up sandwiches, any preference?_

By the time Glimmer stepped up to her desk, there still hadn’t been a response.

“Frosta is going to tag along so I can show her some stuff about setting up lighting,” Glimmer said, glancing at Frosta who was scrambling to gather some things from her desk. Grabbing her bag, Adora got up and they met Frosta at the elevator.

It was a good thing Glimmer was going with her to the interview or else she would have to figure out a ride there. The trio climbed into Glimmer’s white SUV, Adora sitting shotgun and Frosta sitting in the back.

The car ride to the sandwich place was silent except for the soft playing of the radio, Adora checking her phone every few minutes to see if Catra texted her back. She hadn’t.

When they arrived at the Star Family Cafe, Adora looked over to see Glimmer was giving her a smug look. “I wonder if your girlfriend is working today,” Glimmer said in a faux-casual tone, but the look on her face gave her away. 

Adora groaned, “she is _not_ my girlfriend!” She wasn’t sure why she always seemed to forget about Starla every time they came. The crush she had on Adora was about as obvious as it was that the sky was blue. “Whatever, let’s just go,” she scrambled out of the door and slammed it behind her. 

Adora, Bow, and Glimmer had discovered the family-owned business a few years prior and had instantly fallen in love with it. It wasn’t super far from their apartment and their food as always delicious. 

Adora walked in first and steeled herself for an excruciatingly awkward encounter when she saw Starla standing behind the register. Her curly hair was pushed back with a bandana and she had on a black apron over her clothes. The second she registered that Adora had walked in, her eyes widened and her cheeks immediately darkened. 

“Adora!” she called eagerly. “I usually don’t see you here around this time,” she said, her eyes flickering behind her to where Glimmer and Frosta had walked in. “Hey, Glimmer!” 

They stepped up to the counter and Adora scanned the menu, trying hard to not notice Starla trying, and failing, to subtly stare at her. 

Adora checked her phone again and saw that there still wasn’t a reply from the lawyer. 

They ordered their sandwiches, Adora getting Catra a simple turkey sandwich. 

Adora began to fish around in her bag for her wallet while Starla looked at her nervously. 

“So, I’ve sort of noticed you come here a lot,” Starla said, fidgeting with the display of coffee bars next to the register. Adora started digging faster, having an inkling where this conversation was going to go. This wouldn’t be the first time. 

“And, well, you seem like a really cool person and I dig your vibes!” She looked at Adora hopefully, though Adora wasn’t sure for what.

“Uh, thanks?” Adora muttered as she _finally_ found her wallet and did an internal victory dance as she pulled out some cash. 

Starla caught the reporter’s gaze with a wide smile, “so I was wondering if sometime you might want to-“

“Here, keep the change!” Panicking, Adora shoved the money into Starla’s hand before going over and joining her companions by the waiting area. The reporter sighed, _that was a close one._

Starla went to the back for a brief moment before coming back with her sister, Tallstar. As soon as her steely eyes landed on Adora, they narrowed slightly. Adora quickly looked away and pretended to do something on her phone. Tallstar was always giving her looks like that, she suspected it was because she knew her little sister had a hopeless crush on her and that Adora always turned her down. 

The sisters began making the sandwiches as Adora checked her phone to see that Catra _still_ hadn’t texted her back.

_She’s probably busy,_ Adora chided herself. But all the logic in the world couldn’t stop that little part of her that was disappointed she hadn’t responded. 

After an awkward few minutes in which Starla kept trying to catch Adora’s eye, they had their sandwiches in a giant paper bag and were on their way. Starla threw a “See you later, Adora!” at them as the door swung shut. Glimmer made kissy faces at Adora until they got back to the car.

Glimmer finally stopped her teasing when they reached the law firm and they scrambled out of the SUV. Adora wasn’t an architect buff or anything, but the building was absolutely gorgeous.

The law firm sat between two other office buildings in downtown, Adora could figure there were about three or four stories. The first floor was made of white brick with two large, glass windows on either side of the door. From then on up, the outside alternated between brick and glass, Adora could faintly make out people moving around inside the building through the windows. She wondered if one of them was Catra. At the top of the building in giant letters spelled _Hordak & Hordak _ and then smaller beneath that it said _law firm_. 

Adora slung the strap of her bag across her shoulder and led Glimmer and Frosta into the law firm.

The inside of the building was just as nice as the outside, perhaps more so. The entryway was big, with a small wall separating the front from the back. The space behind the pseudo-wall had an arrangement of tables with chairs and a few laptops set up, and two sets of stairs on either side of the room that led upstairs. In front of the wall sat a desk where a man with shaggy blonde hair was focusing intently on his computer while his fingers angrily jabbed at the keyboard. On either side of the door against the walls were leather seats with tables that had stacks of magazines on them. 

Adora walked up to the man and cleared her throat. 

He didn’t look up.

She tried again.

He grunted in frustration and began jabbing the keyboard even more frantically. 

“Hello?” Adora said and the man jumped as if he'd been shocked and finally took his eyes off the screen. He glanced at the two other people in the room before his eyes landed on Adora again. 

“Hi,” he said. Adora waited for a “how can I help you?” but it never came.

“My name is Adora Woods, I have a meeting with Catra de Leon?” Recognition flashed over the man’s face and he nodded. 

“Oh yeah! She mentioned that this morning,” he clicked on a few things before standing up and offering her a smile. “I was given specific instructions to walk you there,” he walked around the desk and motioned for them to follow him. “I’m Kyle, by the way!” He said over his shoulder.

Adora couldn’t say she was surprised this was the same person she spoke with on the phone. Glancing behind her, Adora peeked at his computer screen and saw the pause menu for some fantasy game.

Kyle led them past the wall in the middle of the room and all the way up to the third floor. “The elevators are closed for maintenance right now,” he threw them an apologetic smile. Adora had offered to help carry something on the second flight of stairs, but Glimmer and Frosta both shared a stubbornness that Adora could never understand. Well, according to Bow, Glimmer and Adora were the most stubborn people he had ever met, but Adora chose to ignore that. 

They reached the third floor and Kyle led them through a few hallways, passing by many offices and a breakroom before he stopped in front of a door and knocked. The room was in the center of the floor, Adora guessed it was directly above the front desk. The walls were all glass, and inside Adora could see Catra sitting at one of the tables on the far side of the room, typing on a laptop. 

Kyle pushed open the door and waved them inside. Adora muttered thanks to him before stepping, Glimmer and Frosta following. 

Catra looked up at the sound of them coming in, her eyes focusing on Adora. The lawyer gave her a smile before looking at Glimmer and Frosta. She stood up and they met each other halfway. Catra was wearing a three-piece suit again, this one charcoal with a blue tie and pocket square, her hair slicked back. 

Adora desperately hoped that strand of hair would fall out of place, and then she desperately tried to stop herself from being gay so she could do her job. Fat chance of that last one.

“It’s, uh, nice to see you,” Adora said, suddenly finding the strap to her bag very interesting.

“Likewise,” the lawyer said, her smile slowly melting into a confident smirk. She turned to Glimmer and Frosta and held out her hand, “Catra de Leon.” 

Glimmer shook her hand first, “Glimmer Brightmoon, I do pictures and videos. This is Frosta, she’s interning for the summer,” Catra shook Frosta’s hand. 

“Nice to meet you both,” Catra said before moving back to her seat. “I figured this would be a better place to do this, there’s more space.”

Adora put her bag down on the table and sat next to Catra while Glimmer and Frosta moved to put their stuff down opposite them. Glimmer started giving Frosta instructions on how to properly set up the cameras and the extra lighting. 

“We brought sandwiches,” Adora said. Catra gave her a curious look and seemed to just notice the food bag on the table. “I tried to text you to see what you wanted, but you didn’t answer so I just got you turkey.” 

Catra gave her an amused look but didn’t say anything. 

“If, uh, if that’s not okay I got an Italian sub if you want to trade, but you never responded so I wasn’t sure,” Adora didn’t know why Catra was giving her that look.

“Turkey is fine,” Catra said, but that amused look was still on her face. Adora couldn’t take it.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She said and Catra’s smug grin only grew.

“Did you happen to text the number that you called me with?” She asked, draping her elbow over the back of her seat and crossing one leg over the other. There was a flash of silver as her watch caught the light. 

Adora furrowed her brows at the lawyer. “Yes?” Wasn’t that obvious? What other number would she have called?

“That number goes to a landline,” _oh._ “Hordak thought it would deter non-work related communication with clients,” Catra gave her a pointed look with a sly smile. 

Glimmer walked over before Adora could think of something not stupid to say. 

“Here, clip these on,” Glimmer said as she handed Adora and Catra each a small microphone before walking over to where she and Frosta had started to set up the cameras. 

Adora clipped hers in with ease, having done it countless times. She looked up to see Catra with a focused look on her face, trying to clip the small device onto the lapel of her jacket. 

“Do you need help?” Adora asked, immediately receiving a defiant look from the lawyer. “No, I got it,” she removed her hands from the mic and looked triumphant before it fell, bouncing off her lap and landing on the ground.

Adora couldn’t help the dorky laugh that escaped her lips. “Oh yeah, you totally got it.” Catra shot her a look but didn’t say anything. The reporter reached down and picked up the mic before rolling her chair closer to the lawyer, their knees bumping together as Adora got close enough to reach her. 

Adora reached up and began to clip the mic on to the lapel, trying desperately not to notice that Catra smelled like lavender. Tried hard not to glance up and catch split eyes which were staring at her with a strange look. Blue eyes darted between blue and yellow, memorizing the colors so she wouldn’t forget them. Adora could see Catra’s face turning a light shade of pink and realized her face was warm and she had been sitting there for much longer than necessary and she should really move and-

“ _Ahem,”_ Glimmer cleared her throat. Adora immediately scooted her chair backwards and started digging through her bag, trying, and failing, to pretend nothing had happened. “We’re ready when you are,” Adora glanced at Glimmer to find she was giving her a smug look as she slid over two water bottles. 

Adora pulled out her journal and flipped to the page where she had written out some questions. She turned to Catra, “Okay, so I’m just going to ask you some questions about your volunteer work. There will be a camera on you and one on me,” she gestured to the two cameras set up on the table, “but this is just a regular conversation. I’m going to record an introduction later, so we’re just jumping right into the questions!”

Catra nodded her understanding and Glimmer and Frosta got the cameras rolling. 

Adora turned to Catra. “So how long have you been volunteering at the Salineas Youth Foundation?”

“About 5 years now,” she answered. 

“That’s incredible,” Adora said with a smile. “What made you want to start volunteering there in the first place?” Adora was extremely curious, between this and the conversation they had about her work, there was so much Adora wanted to learn about the lawyer. 

Catra took a deep breath before answering. “Well, I grew up in the foster system. It was a little tough, the system isn’t great and I moved around a lot,” she stopped after that and scratched at her neck. “That was mostly my fault, I wasn’t a particularly easy kid to deal with, but then I started going to this afterschool program at a youth center. They really helped me deal with a lot of stuff, you know? They took time to talk to us and spend time with us and it really helped me let go of a lot of my resentment towards my situation.” Catra reached for her water bottle and took a slow sip. Adora gave her an encouraging smile while she waited, knowing that it wasn’t an easy topic to talk about. 

“It had such a positive impact on my life, I just knew I had to help out and try to help some of those kids too,” she finished. That strand of hair fell down her face again and she reached up to smooth it back. 

Adora thought about how inappropriate it would be if she took a copy of the tape home.

Adora glanced at her notes before turning back to the lawyer, “although your nominator wishes to remain anonymous, they mentioned that you have made some sizable donations to the organization.” The tips of Catra’s ears turned red as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. 

“I think that might be a bit of an exaggeration,” at Adora’s questioning gaze, she continued. “I mean, I make sure there’s some kind of social at least once a month, and I replaced some of their old gaming consoles with new ones, and I had a projector installed so they can have movie nights, and sometimes I pick up the electricity bill if it’s super hot or cold outside, and I make sure there’s a big party for Christmas, and I donate some money once a month, but really it’s not that much.” Adora could see that the more Catra listed all the things she’s done, the more she realized that _yeah, it is a lot._

Adora was a little surprised at her modesty about her donations. She wore expensive suits and drove a car that was worth more than Adora’s life, yet when it came to this, she was downplaying everything. 

“Well I think the people at home watching this might disagree, but I’ll take your word for it,” Adora said with a smile, trying to get Catra to stop shifting in her seat. Adora moved on to the next question. 

“Besides volunteering as a mentor, do you do anything else at the organization?” Catra seemed to think about it for a second. 

“Well, we throw the annual Fall Fest, it’s a big carnival with games and rides and all kinds of auctions and entertainment. For the last two years, I’ve been one of the event coordinators. I also offer pro bono services for people who need it,” Catra looked up as she thought, and then looked back at Adora and nodded once she was satisfied with her answer.

“I’ve actually been to Fall Fest a few times, it’s always a lot of fun.” Mermista’s grandparents were the founders of the Salineas Youth Foundation and now her parents owned and ran it. Mermista always wrangled the team together to volunteer during it. 

Adora didn’t really have any more questions. The Hometown Heroes blog wasn’t very in-depth, just quick profiles of everyday heroes in the community. 

“Well, it was so nice to chat with you, and good luck with this year’s Fall Fest, I assume planning will be starting soon?” Adora asked, reaching forward to shake Catra’s hand.

“Yes, we’ll have our first meeting this weekend.” Catra accepted Adora’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “It was nice talking with you too.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Adora saw Glimmer and Frosta switch off the cameras and then switch off the extra lighting. “That’s a wrap!” Glimmer called, and then started telling Frosta about breakdown procedures while Adora and Catra took off their mics. 

The four of them began eating after all the equipment was put away. They ate in silence, save for Frosta and Catra commenting on how good their sandwiches are. Glimmer told them about how it was her, Adora, and Bow’s favorite place to eat, and thankfully didn’t mention Starla. 

When they finished eating, they threw their wrappers away in the trashcan in the room and Catra offered to walk them out.

When they reached the lobby, Glimmer went ahead to pull the car around while Frosta meandered over to watch Kyle play his fantasy game. 

Turning to face Catra, Adora saw she was scribbling something onto a small rectangle of paper. She tucked the pen and paper into her pocket and left her hand there.

“It really was nice seeing you again,” Adora said, and Catra looked a little surprised before she gave Adora a small smile that sent butterflies to the reporter’s stomach. 

“Likewise, I enjoy our chats, even if it is mostly one-sided,” Catra joked and they both laughed softly. 

Adora looked out the window and saw Glimmer had pulled up to the curb. Frosta went out to help her load the bags.

“Maybe we should change that,” Adora said, hoping her eyes conveyed the earnestness behind her words. 

The lawyer looked at her for a moment before pulling her hand out of her pocket, she was holding the card. 

“Well you know where to reach me,” she held up the card, which Adora could now see was a business card. “Here’s this in case you need me for something non-work related,” with a wink, Catra handed Adora the business card before turning and walking back to the stairs.  
  


Adora watched her until she disappeared behind the corner, sure that her face was red as a potato if the burning in her cheeks was any indication. She looked at the card in her hand.

**_Hordak & Hordak_ **

_Catra de Leon_

_attorney at law_

Underneath that, Adora recognized her office number. She flipped over the card to find that the lawyer had scribbled a different number on the back. Adora couldn’t contain the smile that spread to her face as she shoved the card deep into her pocket so it wouldn’t fall out before going outside to hop into the SUV. 

“What were you two talking about,” Glimmer threw her a look as she pulled out of the parking lot. 

“Oh, you know,” Adora said nonchalantly. 

“Not really, no,” Glimmer said. Adora sighed, but remembering what Glimmer was trying to figure out perked up her mood and she decided there was no point in trying to hide it.

“Catra just gave me her business card,” Adora said, casually looking at her nails. “You know, the one she wrote her number on.” 

The reporter was not ready for the squeal that her best friend let out. “No way! Let me see! No wait, I’m driving. Adora!” She was bouncing in her seat and Adora was mildly concerned about their safety. 

On the radio, some upbeat song started playing and Frosta demanded they stop talking so she could sing along, which was mostly her yelling the lyrics, and that was the end of the conversation.

Adora thought about Catra, it was hard not to. She still couldn't believe how she seemed to not realize the impact she had on the youth program, and she could only imagine how she made those kids feel. Adora couldn’t deny the pang she had felt when Catra had talked about her childhood, about how similar hers was to it. Except, where Catra had acted out, Adora had strived to be better, eager to please her foster parents. Even with all her efforts to be the perfect child, she still could never seem to please Miss Hope, a face that still irked her to this day. Miss Hope never seemed to notice her accomplishments but _always_ pointed out her flaws and magnified them. Adora wishes she could say she didn’t internalize some of the harsh things she had said, but it’s hard when you hear them every day. 

“ _I just want you to be the best version of yourself you can be,”_ she would say. A lot of good that did when she paired it with harsh words and impossible expectations. 

Adora thought back to when Catra was talking about her time in the foster system, the faraway look in her eye as she recounted events she was hesitant to talk about. Adora wanted to know everything, any information Catra had offered she drank up and tucked it away. Inside and out, the lawyer was a mystery, and Adora desperately wanted to solve it. She couldn’t explain the pull she felt towards the lawyer, not really, but Adora knew that she would follow it wherever it led.

The reporter pulled the business card out of her pocket and saved Catra’s number, listing the one she already had as her work number.

Staring at the contact, Adora contemplated texting her now, but she decided against it. Catra was no doubt back at work already and not in a position to answer texts from reporters she barely knew. She was also sure that Bow would chide her for seeming desperate if he found out, so she tucked her phone and the card into the outside pocket of her bag. She spent the whole car ride back to the office wondering when it wouldn’t be too soon.

* * *

Bow made spaghetti for dinner, and the three roommates huddled around the coffee table so they could eat and catch up on Killing Eve. 

Bow and Glimmer were on one end, completely engrossed as they discussed Villanelle’s outfit, while Adora sat on the other end engrossed in her laptop while mindlessly shoveling bowtie noodles into her mouth. Swiftwind was on the laying on the couch, but was watching intently for any sign of falling food.

_Come on!_ She thought, growing more and more frustrated. As it turns out, there are about a million elementary schools called Willow Creek Elementary which helps a negative amount. 

Sighing, Adora shoved another sad forkful of pasta into her mouth as she clicked on another school website. _If I could just remember the name of that woman!_

Adora scrolled around but knew this still wasn’t the right place.

Glimmer and Bow exchanged a glance across from her, but didn’t say anything. This was a usual occurrence in the Best Friend Squad apartment. Whether it was to catch up on a show or movie night, Adora was usually not completely present, and no matter how hard they tried, Bow and Glimmer couldn’t seem to get her to talk about it. 

A few more minutes went by before Adora couldn’t ignore the concerned looks from her best friends. The reporter looked up at them from over the screen of her laptop. “I’m fine,” she said, already knowing what they were going to say.

“You don’t seem fine,” Bow said with a sigh. “You’re always doing work stuff during Best Friend Squad time, and I know the reason you wake up so late is because you stay up past midnight every night.” 

Adora squinted her eyes at him, “how do you know about that?” 

“Sometimes I get hungry in the middle of the night and your light is always on when I get up. And sometimes on the days you have off you’re still awake by the time I get up to leave for work,” he gave her a pointed look and Adora looked away while eating more pasta. 

Bow caught her eye, “We’re just worried about you,” his voice was sincere, as always, and it caused a pang of guilt to shoot through Adora. 

It still wasn't enough to make her fess up. 

“Maybe you’re right,” Adora said suddenly, slamming the top of her laptop down. Swiftwind’s head popped up as he looked to the sound.

Adora faked a yawn, “Man, I’m beat! I think I’m going to turn in early, gotta save up my strength for tomorrow, right?” She didn’t wait for a response before getting up. She put her empty bowl into the dishwasher before going to her room, calling Swiftwind to follow her.

Closing the door behind Swiftwind, she plopped onto her bed and opened up her laptop and resumed her searching while Swiftwind curled up next to her. Adora mindlessly scratched his head as she continued to try to find the town she lived in before Mara adopted her. All she could remember was the name of the school she went to and Miss Hope, both of which had generic names that got her nowhere. She tried searching every combination to trace back to her foster mother, but when the only words she had to go off of were “Willow Creek Elementary” and “Hope,” which were about some of the most generic names ever, it didn’t get you very far. 

Adora was about to give up for the night when an idea hit her, and she felt foolish for not having thought of it sooner. Quickly, she grabbed her phone and went through her contacts before clicking the call button under _Mom._

Adora still remembers clearly the first time she called Mara, _Mom._

It was a little under a year after Adora had moved in with Mara. Adora was at school, and it was in the middle of tornado season. She hadn’t ever lived anywhere where tornadoes were an issue, so she was beyond terrified when they had to go into lockdown. She was crouched in the hallway with her classmates and the rest of the school, trying hard not to cry. They were okay, but a few of the houses in town had some damage and a few people lost their fences, but parents started coming to pick their kids up early. 

Adora hadn’t expected Mara to come get her, but she did, and she had never been more relieved or happy. She ran all the way from her classroom to the front office. “Mommy!” she had called as she ran forward and jumped into Mara’s arms, tears forming in her eyes. She froze instantly, scared she had upset Mara, but the woman only held her tighter, and Adora could tell she was crying too. 

When Adora was feeling particularly upset about her time in the foster system, she reminded herself of that moment, when she finally felt like she had a family.

_“Hello?”_ Mara answered. “ _Who is this?”_

Adora furrowed her brow, “uh, it’s Adora?” 

_“Adora, hm? I think I used to have a daughter named Adora, but I seem to have forgotten her since she never calls me.”_ Adora winced and made a mental note to call home more often.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I’ve been busy with work and stuff,” she knew there wasn’t really an excuse, but she had to try anyway.

_“I’m sure you are,”_ Adora could hear the amusement in her voice. _“So what do I owe the pleasure?”_

“Well, I was hoping I could come see you. I’ll be in town next weekend and I was thinking I could stick around and spend the weekend there?” Adora knew she would say yes, she always did.

_“Of course, dear! And tell Bow and Glimmer they’re more than welcome to stay as well,”_ Mara sounded excited at the prospect of Adora coming to visit her, and Adora was hit for the second time with guilt. 

“I actually have something I want to talk to you about,” Adora said, and was nervous for some reason. It’s not like it was anything bad or she had done something wrong, but still…

_“Oh, alright, then. I look forward to your visit!”_

They spoke for a little bit after that, Adora telling Mara how work is going and the progress she’s made on her exposé, while Mara filled her in on the neighborhood drama. They said their goodbyes and Adora decided it probably _was_ a good idea to get some rest. She had a long night ahead of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I planned, but I hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for comments, I really appreciate them! 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Catra

* * *

It had only been a day. That’s all. Just a day. A day of Catra checking her phone to see if Adora had texted her. Even a simple “ _ hey” _ would have sent the lawyer over the moon,  _ not  _ that she would ever admit it. That would be embarrassing. 

With a sigh, Catra packed up her briefcase and headed down to the meeting rooms on the first floor. She was meeting with Rogelio, Kyle, and Lonnie so they could sign the contract she had written up. The elevator was still broken so they decided to meet on the first floor so Lonnie wouldn’t have to walk up the stairs. 

When she got downstairs, Catra could see Kyle sitting at the table through the glass window. He was wearing his usual white button-down and tie, his shaggy hair falling around his head. When she entered, he looked up at her and gave her a big smile. “Hey, Catra!” He said with a wave. “Rogelio went to go get Lonnie, they’ll be here soon.”

Catra sat down across from Kyle and began pulling out things from her briefcase. She pulled out the contracts, some pens, and her notary stamp. Rogelio walked in shortly after, followed by a woman with dark skin and tight braids pulled into a ponytail. Catra could see the small baby bump through her t-shirt. 

Catra stood to greet her. “Catra de Leon, nice to meet you,” she shook Lonnie’s hand. 

“I’m Lonnie Davis,” she settled down in between Kyle and Rogelio. 

Catra sat back down and pushed the contracts over so Lonnie had one in front of her and Rogelio had the other. She went over everything on it, making sure to highlight the sections that Rogelio specifically requested. They all agreed on it and passed around the copies to be signed, passing them last to Catra so she could notarize them.

Kyle turned to Rogelio, his eyes shining with unfallen tears, “We’re going to be dads!” The two men shared a tender smile before wrapping Lonnie in a hug. 

“Thank you,” Catra heard Rogelio whisper.

Not wanting to encroach on such an intimate moment, Catra silently took one of the contracts to the printer room to scan a copy to keep on record. Usually, this was Kyle’s job, but Catra figured she could cut him some slack this time. 

The printer room wasn’t far from where they were, and by the time she got back, Kyle was talking animatedly. 

“-and then after that, we can rent a moving van to get all of your stuff!” he said excitedly. When Kyle noticed Catra was back, he walked over to her and handed her his phone. “Do you think you could take a picture? We want to commemorate the moment,” Catra wasn’t sure she had ever seen anyone look this happy, and she wasn’t about to go and ruin it by saying something snippy at him. 

She took the phone and the trio got together, holding up their contracts and grinning at the camera. Catra snapped a couple of pictures before handing back the phone. 

“Congratulations, all of you,” Catra said, scratching the back of her neck. She wasn’t really used to sappy family moments, and she kind of wished they would pack up and go already. She couldn’t exactly check her phone every five minutes if she was working with a client. 

Rogelio surprised Catra by walking over and pulling her into a brief hug and giving her a small smile. “If you see Hordak, can you tell him I’m leaving for the day? We’re going to the furniture store so Lonnie can pick out stuff for her room,” he asked. 

“Of course,” Catra said and they exchanged a nod before he left the room with Kyle and Lonnie. Catra packed up her briefcase and meandered back to her office. 

She looked at the time, only a few more hours until she could leave. Catra checked her schedule and decided it wouldn’t hurt to head home early. It was Friday and she wanted to have enough time to relax and eat dinner before the roller derby game. 

Packing up for the weekend, Catra locked her office and went to the parking garage, itching to get out of her work clothes.

* * *

Scorpia was home already and was dancing around the living room to some show tune. She was on the couch belting out some ballad when she noticed Catra watching her from the kitchen and startled, nearly toppling off the couch. Reaching for the remote, Scorpia turned the volume down on the speaker.

“You scared me! I wasn’t expecting you home so early,” she said, walking into the kitchen and pouring a glass of water. 

“Work was boring today and I was ready to go,” Catra shrugged. She slipped off her suit jacket and draped it over the back of one of the dining chairs before loosening her tie. “What time did you say the game is at?” Catra asked, joining Scorpia at the table.

“It’s at eight, and I was hoping that before we could go get dinner,” Scorpia looked hopeful, and Catra was hungry. 

“Alright, but we are not going to that place with the tiny food again!” Catra said with a shudder. It was Entrapta’s favorite place to eat, but they overcooked all of the food and charged full price for food that could be eaten in one bite. 

“Don’t worry about that, Entrapta has an early flight tomorrow so she isn’t coming,” Scorpia said. Catra sighed in relief then looked back over at Scorpia.

“Wait, she is?” Catra didn’t remember Entrapta mentioning that, but, then again, she usually didn’t give much warning for anything she was doing. 

“Yeah, it was really last minute, but some work thing came up so she’s flying out with her team to Eternia for the weekend,” she explained. 

“Eternia? That’s like a four hour flight,” Catra said, concerned for her roommate. Entrapta was not always the best at staying still for very long without something to occupy her. Entrapta could barely sit through a movie without finding something else to occupy herself, usually while also trying to watch the movie. It was almost funny until she rigged the TV to play more than one channel at once.

“Don’t worry about it, she said she has some project she’s working on that she can work on during the flight, and she’s bringing her switch.” Scorpia leaned in conspiratorially. “She doesn’t know yet, but I downloaded Animal Crossing onto it while she was at work,” she leaned back with a satisfied smile. 

Catra grinned and patted her on her broad shoulder. “Good looking out, wouldn’t want another incident like at the museum,” Catra had been pissed when they were kicked out, but looking back on it they should have known better than to think she wouldn’t want to touch everything. 

Scorpia told her a story about some guy that got flung off the treadmill today before they went to their rooms to get ready. 

Catra changed into a black t-shirt and jeans before going back to the living room. Scorpia had changed out of her workout clothes and was now in a grey sweatshirt with cartoon animals on it and shorts. 

Scorpia offered to drive, so they clambered into her truck before going to the burger place that Catra loved. 

“So,” Catra said once they sat down with their food, “why are we going to this, again?” She began munching on her fries.

“Huntara is one of the trainers at the Fright Zone and she’s on the local team. We were talking about it and then she said she could get us tickets,” she explained. “It was kind of weird, she was all like  _ ‘maybe after the game, I could show you a few moves,’  _ whatever that was about.” 

Catra began laughing uncontrollably while Scorpia gave her a weird look. “What’s so funny?” she asked, causing Catra to laugh harder. She knew she was probably receiving looks because of her loud squeals of laughter, but this was really just too good.

“She was totally hitting on you!” Catra wheezed out. She loved Scorpia, but she could be totally oblivious sometimes.

Scorpia’s face turned red and she took a long sip from her drink. “No way, that can’t be.” Catra was unfazed. “I’m not even her type! Her team trains at the Fright Zone and there’s this girl on her team that she’s always trying to hit up and we are  _ not  _ built the same,” Scorpia let out a small laugh and took another sip of her drink. 

Catra knew that look. Scorpia was also really bad at acting, and Catra knew what she was thinking. She had only revealed it once, but Scorpia was insecure about her body, and Catra could never really understand why. She was tall and strong and could probably bench press her truck if she wanted, but these were things that hurt her sometimes. Scorpia was scared that people would just see her as  _ ‘the muscle,’  _ as she had put it, but past all of that muscle was a soft, squishy, romantic. 

Catra reached over and touched Scorpia’s hand to get her attention. Split colored eyes met with brown, and Catra gave her best friend an understanding smile. Scorpia managed to return one, and they continued eating their food. Catra wasn’t always the best at being a good friend, but she knew Scorpia knew she was trying, even if she didn’t always have any words to say.

Catra suddenly remembered something dumb Kyle had done at work and the conversation shifted to laughter and matter was pushed away.

* * *

The game was at a roller rink on the outer edges of the city, where the buildings weren’t quite so squashed together and the roads were less busy. 

Catra could hear the cicadas in the trees as they exited the truck and walked inside. Inside, rock music was blasting through the speakers and there were multi-colored lights flashing around the dark room. There was a rink in the center of the room, blocked off by a short wall with a plastic wall and bleachers on either side. Off at one end of the massive room, there were a few arcade games and a counter where nachos and hot dogs were being served.

Scorpia handed their tickets to the person behind the skate rental stand and they sat on the home side. They were sitting in a sea of red, and some people had signs that said stuff like “Go Princesses!” or had names on them. Weird names. Some guy was holding a sign that said “Sea-Ra” on it in giant letters. He was waving it around animatedly even though there wasn’t anyone out yet. 

“This is so exciting!” Scorpia yelled over the loud music. Suddenly, the music turned down and a man began speaking over the mic. 

“ _ Are you ready to rumble?!”  _ He yelled, his voice sounded like a wrestling announcer.  _ “Please welcome to the rink, the Elberon Elks!”  _ Instead of cheering, the crowd began to boo as a team in purple skated out from a door on the other side of the room and hopped over the small barrier and onto the rink. They began skating around as the announcer spoke again. 

_ “And now, the moment you have all been waiting for!”  _ the crowd around them burst into cheers, Scorpia joining excitedly. Sports weren’t really Catra’s thing, but she was glad Scorpia seemed to be enjoying herself.  _ “Please welcome to the rink your Etheria Princesses!”  _ As the team in red skated out, sounds like thunder erupted as the fans began stopping their feet against the bleachers. 

The team skated around the rink, hyping up the crowd as they warmed up. 

“Look! That’s Huntara,” Catra looked to where Scorpia was pointing. Huntara was the biggest player out there, but there was definitely some serious muscle going on.  _ Crimson Queen  _ was emblazoned on the back of her red vest.

Catra may not be a big fan of sports, but she was the number one fan of girls playing sports. 

The team from Etheria was wearing white shirts with red vests over them, each with various patches on the front, and their nicknames were scrawled out on the back.

_ Maybe I’ll enjoy this after all,  _ she thought as she shamelessly admired the skaters. 

“Do you remember how the game goes?” Scorpia asked. Catra gave her a look that said  _ absolutely not,  _ and Scorpia began explaining the rules again. 

“Okay so basically, there were five players on each team in the rink at once, one of them is the jammer. She scores points by lapping the other team, and everyone else is trying to keep the other team’s jammer from scoring while making sure theirs can.” Catra nodded along and figured it would be easy enough to keep up with. Scorpia pointed out that the jammers had stars on their helmets.

The game began, and Catra found herself cheering and yelling with everyone else. Half the time she didn’t know why she was yelling, but it was fun nonetheless. The guy with the Sea-Ra sign was the loudest and had made many failed attempts to start the wave. 

The players were in the middle of a tie-up. The jammer for Etheria, “Sparkle Bomb,” was trying to get past a mass of players from Elberon who weren’t letting up. Suddenly, one of the Etheria blockers came out of nowhere and barrelled straight through them, knocking them both to the ground as the jammer sped past them. The crowd erupted into a chorus of “ _ She-Ra! She-Ra!”  _

Catra had been confused at first, but looking at the player’s shirts, there was a  _ She _ -Ra and a  _ Sea _ -Ra, the latter being the one the guy with the sign was cheering for. 

Catra decided to start watching She-Ra and couldn’t help but feel like there was something extremely familiar about her. They were too far for her to make out her face, but Catra was sure she knew that blonde ponytail.

She tapped Scorpia’s arm. “You said they train at your gym, right?” Scorpia nodded. “Who’s She-Ra?” she asked, looking back just in time to see her knock someone else to the ground before going to find her next target. 

Scorpia squinted out at the players before recognition flashed over her face. “Oh, that’s Adora! Man, she is doing great!” She said, anything else she might have been about to say cut short as the crowd erupted into more cheering.

Catra looked back to where the blonde was now struggling to fight past a girl from Elberon.

She would be lying if she said watching Adora muscle through people while on roller skates wasn’t one of the most amazing things she’d ever seen, and she’d really be lying if she said she couldn’t stop watching her. It was clear that there was less strategy and more strength involved with her playing style, but Catra was not complaining. Anytime she took a hit she would pop right back up as if nothing happened. Clearly she was a fan favorite, if the number of people with She-Ra signs was any indication. 

“Do you know her?” Scorpia said once the crowd had quieted down. 

“Uh, kind of. She was the one that interviewed me for an exposé she’s writing and the paper,” Catra said. She watched as Adora skated over to the bench and swapped spots with someone called  _ Flower Girl. _ Taking a big gulp of water, Adora wiped the sweat off her face and started talking to the person next to her on the bench.

Catra looked around the crowd of people and wondered if there was anyone here watching Adora as intently as her. Could that be why she hadn’t contacted her? 

She shook the thought away and focused back on the game. 

_ I suppose there is one way to find out. _

* * *

The Princesses won the game, the crowd cheering loudly as the buzzer rang for the end of the game. The loud guy looked like he might have been crying and ran over to the doors where the skaters were going back to. Catra guessed it was the locker room. 

“Hey, why don’t we go see your friend,” Catra said, nodding over to the locker room doors. Scorpio agreed and they walked over, a little ways from the megafan. 

Scorpia hadn’t stopped raving about the game since they left the bleachers. “-and then she was like-” Scorpia mimed body slamming someone, “-and then she went-” and then dramatically fell to the floor. Catra laughed along with her, and they garnered the attention of the Sea-Ra guy.

Sauntering over, he propped his sign against the wall and stood before them with his chest puffed out. “Yes, it was quite the game! And my dear Mermista was amazing,” he said. Confidence oozed from his voice and posture and everything else about him. 

“I haven’t seen you at a game before,” he rubbed at his chin critically as one eyebrow shot up in contemplation. Catra felt like she was talking to a cartoon character or one of those people that worked at Disneyland. “I am Sea Hawk!” he declared, his fist rising dramatically in the air. Catra tried hard not to snort at the name. “I am the  _ unofficial  _ team manager of the Etheria Princesses,” he said the word quietly, and Catra got the sense he had been corrected on that fact many times. 

“Wow!” Scorpia said, clearly intrigued. “I’m Scorpia, and this is Catra! I didn’t know roller derby could be so-” she struggled for words.

“Fantastic? Spectacular? An epic battle of strength?” Sea Hawk offered. 

Scorpia nodded, her eyes shining. “Yes, that’s it exactly!” They began talking about the game and soon enough players started trickling out of the locker room. 

The players from Elberon walked out together and left the building while players from Etheria came out staggered, having changed out of their uniforms and all carrying duffel bags.  _ Sea-Ra  _ came out and Sea Hawk immediately went after her. They were joined by  _ Sparkle Bomb  _ and  _ Frostbite,  _ who Catra realized were the two that came with Adora to do the interview. 

_ What were their names? Glitter and Frosty? _

Huntara walked out and Scorpia went over and gave her a high five. There was still no sign of Adora when Scorpia walked back over to where she was leaning against the wall. 

“So it sounds like everyone is going to some bar and Huntara said we can tag alone,” Scorpia said. 

Catra thought about the offer before deciding to stick with her original plan. 

“I think I’m going to stick around here for a bit, catch up with Adora,” Catra said. 

Scorpia looked nervous, “are you sure? Maybe I shouldn’t. I’ve never really hung out with them before and they probably wouldn’t like me so-”

“Hey,” Catra cut her off before she could go down that tunnel. “You’re awesome, and they’re going to see that.” Catra gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she gave her arm a squeeze.

“Thanks, Wild Cat,” Scorpia said. She pulled Catra into a crushing hug before leaving with the group of players and Sea Hawk. 

“Text me if you need anything!” Catra called after her.

Leaning back against the wall, she watched the building slowly become emptier. She was starting to wonder if she had already missed Adora when the door opened and the blonde in question walked out, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder and her damp hair cascading down her back. She had changed into a red sweatshirt that said “Grayskull University” on it and athletic shorts. 

Adora began walking towards the exit, not noticing Catra against the wall.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra purred, a smirk tugging at her lips. Adora whipped around, her eyes widening at the sight of the lawyer.

“Catra?” she said in disbelief. Blue eyes searched Catra, probably trying to wrap her head around the situation.

Catra pushed off against the wall with her foot. “You were great out there,” she said, Adora’s eyes snapped up to meet hers and she gave her a sheepish smile. 

“Oh, uh, thanks,” Adora fidgeted with the strap of her duffel bag. She looked back up at Catra, confusion back on her face, “What are you doing here?”

“My roommate is friends with  _ Crimson Queen, _ ” Catra said. “Hey, what’s with the weird nicknames, anyway?” No time like the present to get answers.

Adora shrugged, “I’m not really sure, it’s just a derby thing, I guess.” She eyed Catra again. “So, you know Huntara?”

“Not really,” Catra shrugged. “I just tagged along.”

Adora looked around the almost empty building. “Is she here still?”

“Nah, she left with some people from your team. She said they were going to some bar,” Catra shrugged. Adora seemed to know what she was talking about.

“Yeah, I usually go with them but I’m just really hungry right now and don’t feel like getting wasted tonight,” Adora sighed, switching her bag from one shoulder to the other. Catra saw her opportunity.

“Do you maybe want to go get some food?” Catra asked, her heart pounding. She wasn’t sure what she expected. It would make sense if Adora turned down going somewhere alone in the middle of the night with a near stranger, and she supposed that should have been a concern of hers as well, but there was  _ something  _ about Adora, something that made Catra want to risk it. 

Adora eyed her for a moment longer before an easy smile spread across her face. “Okay!” There’s a 24-hour diner not too far from here,” she said. Her face fell, “but, uh, Glimmer was my ride, so…” she trailed off, looking expectantly at Catra.

“My roommate drove and she took her keys,” they locked eyes, Catra was scared this meant no going, but Adora just shrugged.

“I guess we’re walking,” she started walking towards the exit. “You coming?” she threw over her shoulder. Catra quickly caught up with her. 

They stepped out into the night, the air a little cooler than when she had arrived. There were significantly fewer cars in the parking lot and no sign of anyone. 

Catra grabbed Adora by the arm, taking a tiny moment to appreciate how firm it was, before turning the blonde to face her. “Isn’t it a little dangerous to be walking around at night?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Adora said with a smirk before taking off again. Catra only had a moment to regain her composure before she was speeding up to catch up with Adora. 

It took about ten minutes to walk to the diner, and once they were inside they slid into a booth by the window, Adora sliding her bag onto the floor under the table. There was quiet music playing from a speaker in the corner, and the only other person there was the waitress behind the counter.

The waitress, an old woman with greying hair, walked over to their table and offered them a kind smile. “What can I get you ladies tonight?”

Adora ordered a stack of pancakes and a milkshake, Catra got fries and a coffee. 

Catra looked at the woman across from her, to find she was looking right back, that calculating look back in her eyes.  _ Those eyes _ , Catra couldn’t get them out of her head. They always seemed to be searching, searching…

But for what? Catra wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t sure Adora knew either. All she knew was the few times they had been around each other, she always caught Adora just... _ looking  _ at her. Catra was used to people staring at her dual colored eyes, and she usually ended up having to kick their asses because of whatever dumb thing they had to say, but this was different. She had often heard that the eyes are the window to the soul, and Adora looked like someone left the curtains open and the lights on. 

Clearing her throat, Catra hastily looked away and out the window as she felt her face getting warmer.  _ When did it get so warm in here? _

“I never took you for the sporty type,” Catra said into the quiet of the diner. Glancing at Adora’s exposed biceps, Catra wasn’t sure why she was surprised.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Adora said, waving it off with her hand. “I played hockey through college but journalism was my real passion.” 

“Grayskull University, huh?” Catra said, looking at Adora’s sweatshirt. 

Adora shrugged. “They have a great journalism program and their hockey team wasn’t too bad, either. That’s where I met my best friends,” Catra could see the fondness in her eyes as she talked about her college experience. She wished she could relate. 

“So what about you?” Adora asked, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her hand as she looked across the table. She had an easy smile on her face, and Catra felt herself relaxing into the moment.

“I went to the University of Etheria and graduated from their School of Law,” Catra didn’t mention the part where Hordak said he would pay for all of her schooling if she went to his alma mater. “That’s where I met Entrapta, I also live with her. We were roommates in college during our undergrad. She’s the only reason I didn’t drive myself crazy,” Catra managed a laugh. At first, Catra couldn’t stand Entrapta. She was always doing  _ something  _ or going  _ somewhere,  _ but she made Catra leave the room and actually go places while she was in search of some part she needed. And in turn, Catra helped her focus on her schoolwork so she didn’t get behind and flunk out. It was an unlikely pairing, but it ended up helping both of them.

They started swapping college stories, and Adora was laughing about the time Entrapat had dragged Catra to a frat party for a social experiment when their food arrived. Catra enjoyed Adora’s smile, it was bright and warm and it made her feel like nothing wrong could ever happen. She quickly copied and deleted that thought from her brain because  _ that  _ was embarrassing. Even her own thoughts were betraying her.

Adora started scarfing down pancakes while Catra fixed her coffee so that it didn’t taste like coffee anymore. 

“So your roommate knows Huntara?” Adora asked, taking a break from inhaling her pancakes to sip on her milkshake. 

“Yeah, she owns the Fright Zone, actually,” Catra said, and she could see Adora connecting the dots.

“You’re Scorpia’s roommate?” Catra nodded and ate some of her fries. “So how did that happen?” Adora asked and began bulldozing her pancakes again. Catra was sure Adora had eaten about fifty pancakes in a small span of time, but she was still going full speed.

Catra told Adora about how after she and Entrapta had finished their undergrad, they were short on cash and needed a cheap place to stay while Entrapta tried to find a job and Catra started law school. They saw the help wanted sign on the Fright Zone and once Scorpia heard that they needed a place to stay, she let them stay in the apartment above the gym in exchange for work. It was a sweet deal, and once the two of them found proper jobs, they got an apartment with Scorpia. Adora listened intently as she finished off the last of her pancakes.

Adora pushed away her now empty plate and leaned on her hand again, the straw of her milkshake coming to rest by her lips. “I’ve only talked to Scorpia a couple of times but she seems like a really great person,” Adora said. Catra nodded her agreement. She stacked her small plate, now empty of fries, onto Adora’s and sipped her coffee.

“She really is. I owe a lot to her, I’m not sure what I would have done if she hadn’t given us a place to stay.” Catra hoped Scorpia knew how much she had impacted her life, even if she wasn’t the best at expressing it.

The conversation lulled, and Catra figured it was now or never.

“I was a little surprised you hadn’t tried to text me,” Catra said, avoiding eye contact by examining her coffee mug. “Not that, uh, you had to or anything.”

Catra spared a glance to see Adora was looking at her with a smug look. “Not used to getting stood up?” Adora challenged and Catra’s eyes widened. 

“No! I just thought that- usually when I-” she was spared from her word vomit by Adora’s laughter. It was cut short by a buzzing coming from her duffel bag. She reached under the table and rummaged around until she pulled out her phone. 

She furrowed her brows at the screen then answered. “Sea Hawk?” She said. Catra could hear his galavanting voice but couldn’t make out what he was saying. Adora was only making small humming noises until she let out a loud groan and hung up. 

“What was that about?” Catra asked. 

“Apparently everyone is super hammered and Sea Hawk needs us to go get our roommates,” Adora sighed. Catra finished off the rest of her coffee and they slid out of the booth. Adora shouldering her bag as they walked to the counter where the waitress was cleaning menus.

Before Catra could protest, Adora paid for both of their food. Adora shrugged off her protests as she slipped her wallet back into her bag and they exited the diner.

Discouraged from their interruption, Catra didn’t bring the topic back up. 

* * *

Catra was tired by the time they reached the bar, and she knew she would sleep well that night. Sea Hawk, Scorpia, Glimmer, and Huntara were all sitting on the curb in front of the bar laughing at something. Well, all of them except Sea Hawk. He was standing near them looking like a tired babysitter. Being designated driver, Catra supposed that was an accurate description.

“We’re here to relieve you of duty,” Adora said with a mock salute. Sea Hawk sighed and gave Adora a grateful look. 

“Thank goodness! They kept trying to pick fights with a group of college kids and now they won’t stop laughing,” he looked like he was about to cry. Catra struggled to reign in her laughter while she walked over to Scorpia.

“Ready to go home?” Scorpia nodded and Catra struggled to help pull her up. Adora got Glimmer and Sea Hawk gave Adora a set of keys and they all said good-bye.

Sea Hawk walked over and got into a car where the one called Sea-Ra was already in the passenger seat, and they drove off while Huntara went back inside.

It was easy to find Glimmer’s car in the small parking lot and they clambered inside, Scorpia and Glimmer in the backseat, talking about something Catra couldn’t figure out.

They drove back to the roller rink, the headlights illuminating the empty street. Scorpia and Glimmer had ceased their laughing, Catra looked back to see they had both fallen asleep leaning on each other.

“They’re completely out, hopefully I’ll be able to get her up the stairs to our apartment,” Catra had meant it as a joke, but thinking about it she realized it was a valid concern.

Adora snorted, looking in the rearview mirror at the sleeping women. “Glimmer always goes way too hard,” she said with a soft laugh. 

The rest of the drive was in silence, and Adora helped get Scorpia into her truck. Catra closed the door behind her and turned to Adora. 

“I had fun tonight, thanks for the fries,” Catra gave her a smile, and the one she got back shot electricity into her stomach.

“We should do it again sometime,” Adora said, her voice turning unsure. “Unless you, uh, don’t want to, which I totally-” Catra cut her off before she could finish, a grin spreading across her face.

“I would love to,” Adora’s face lit up, and she looked at her with a bright smile. Catra felt something like hope swell in her chest as she looked into blue eyes. Blue eyes that seemed just as interested in her.

“Great! I should really get going, but I’ll text you,” there was a look in her eyes. Catra didn’t know what that one was, but she vowed to do whatever it took to learn them all.

They walked around to the driver’s side and Adora pulled the door open for her so she could climb inside.

“Goodnight, Adora,” Catra said as she turned on the truck. Adora gave her one last smile before shutting the door, and Catra knew then that she could get used to the warmth that spread through her when Adora smiled.

* * *

Miraculously, Catra managed to get Scorpia up to their apartment and into her bed with minimal struggling. She brushed her teeth and changed into shorts and a tank top before crawling into bed. 

Catra was on the brink of sleep when her phone buzzed from where it rested on her nightstand. She reached over and squinted at the screen, her face splitting into a grin and she quickly saved the number to her contacts.

**_Adora_ **

_ goodnight catra _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying the story so far!! I have great things planned for these idiots 
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos and I love the comments! Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Adora

* * *

Adora took a sip of her coffee as she read over what she had just typed. She had begun retyping a passage when the bell over the door chimed, and she instinctively looked up to see who it was. A smile crept its way onto her face as she watched Catra look around the tiny shop before her eyes lit with recognition as they landed on the blonde and she made her way over. 

Catra had surprised Adora by asking if she wanted to get lunch together, but she wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to see the  _ “insanely hot lawyer,”  _ as Glimmer liked to refer to her as. They had exchanged a few texts here and there, always leaving Adora wanting more. 

Adora took this time to take in the lawyer’s black suit, her undershirt and tie blending in perfectly with the dark fabric. The reporter couldn’t explain the feeling she got as she noticed the silver chain of a pocket watch creeping from her vest and disappearing under her jacket. Dark frames covered her eyes that she removed and tucked into an inside pocket. Her hair was slicked back again, bangs pushed up and away from her face. Adora quickly turned back to her computer screen.

So yeah, maybe she was insanely hot.

A finger appeared in front of her face and poked her on the forehead. “I thought this was a lunch  _ break, _ ” Catra said as she eyed Adora’s open laptop, one eye raised higher than the other as her mouth cured into an amused smirk. Adora promised to wrap it up before she got back with her coffee and sandwich.

Out of the corner of her eye, Adora saw Catra approach the counter and exchange pleasantries with Madame Razz as she finished rewriting the passage she was working on. 

Satisfied with her work for now, Adora closed her laptop and tucked it back into her bag just in time for Catra to plop down across from her, loosening the bottom button of her suit jacket. Adora watched as Catra took a long sip from her coffee before placing her mug on the table and slumping back with a huff, a hand coming up to absently push back a fallen strand of hair.

“Rough day at work?” Adora asked, taking a sip of her own coffee as Catra rolled her eyes and sat up to talk.

“I have a trial later today and my stupid intern kid brother was in charge of the prep file and didn’t have it ready for me until last night,” the lawyer let out another frustrated groan and eye roll. “So this morning I chewed him out and then he got all mad like he was doing me some big favor by writing the report when it’s his job in the first place!” Adora was amused as she watched the lawyer seethe in front of her, mumbling expletives about her brother.

“Ah, the torments of siblings,” Adora mused as she remembered her sandwich and took a bite of it. Catra looked at her, rage replaced with curiosity in her mismatched eyes.

“You have siblings?” She asked, and Adora wasn’t sure why she was feeling some type of way about her asking. It wasn’t that it bothered her, not by any means. Spending all of her time asking other people questions, it was strange being on the receiving end, and about herself as a  _ person,  _ not like that time Frosta interviewed her for one of her classes. Looking at Catra, Adora wasn’t sure there was anything she wouldn’t tell her.

“No,” she answered, “but my friend Bow has twelve older siblings and he gets like this all the time.” 

Catra sputtered into her coffee. “ _ Twelve?”  _ She asked incredulously, her eyes wide with horror. “And here I thought that one little monster was the worst punishment imaginable,” she shook her head, seemingly unable to wrap her head around it.

“To be fair,” Adora continued, “he’s the youngest. But they get along well enough, even if they are a handful for their dad’s when they all get together.” A fondness washed over her as she thought about the times Bow had invited her and Glimmer to meet his family. It was...a lot, to say the least. They were a family of historians but were surprisingly rambunctious, and having seventeen people around one table for a meal was like nothing she’d ever experienced. Especially when thirteen of those people grew up mercilessly teasing each other and constantly fighting about everything. Bow was the calmest of the bunch, often acting as the mediator between disputes. He was the only one who branched outside the family profession and pursued software instead, his dad’s still supporting him as fiercely as his siblings.

Growing up, Adora often wondered what it was like to have a sibling, someone who grew up alongside you, someone who you could count on, even if you weren’t on good terms. Adora couldn’t count the number of times Bow had gotten a frantic call from one of his siblings, and no matter how they felt about each other at the time, he would drop everything to help them out, and they did the same for him.

She would be lying if she said she hadn’t always felt like there was a piece of her missing her whole life, like she was missing half of her being. Of course, she could never talk to Mara about it for fear of her interpreting her words to mean that Mara wasn’t enough, which wasn’t true. Mara was everything to her. A mother, a friend, her only family. Adora owed everything to her, and knew that that wasn’t the part of her life that felt empty. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, and maybe that was why she was going to ask Mara about where she came from. Maybe if she knew who she was supposed to be before going into the system, she would find closure. 

“Earth to Adora,” Catra said, waving to get her attention. Adora sat up and shook her head out of her thoughts. There was still that pang of emptiness in her chest, and she plastered on a smile as she pushed it down. 

“So tell me about this demon brother of yours,” Adora hoped Catra wouldn’t ask about her zoning out, and was relieved when she didn’t. 

“Dearest John was adopted around the same time I was, but he was still a baby so Hordak named him after himself,” another eye roll. “Hordak wanted to make sure he had heirs to his throne so he could make a family legacy out of the firm.” Adora supposed that made sense, having your own firm was no small matter, especially one a successful as Hordak & Hordak.

“It would be one thing if he was just doing dumb little brother stuff, but he is absolutely insufferable,” the lawyer’s scowl was back on her face as she gripped her coffee mug. A smirk appeared on her face as she seemed to remember something. “Everyone at the office calls him Imp behind his back, it’s pretty hilarious,” she seemed pleased with herself, and Adora had a feeling she knew who coined the name. 

They talked for a while after, which mostly consisted of Catra telling Adora about all the times she wanted to kill her adoptive brother and Adora laughing at her plights. The conversation carried on easily, neither woman running out of things to say. Before she knew it, it was time for both of them to head back to work.

“Oh!” Adora said suddenly as they were exiting the coffee shop, Madame Razz throwing a ‘see you next time!’ at them as they left. “I brought you this,” Adora reached into her bag and pulled out a folded newspaper. She flipped to where they had the hometown hero section and presented it to Catra. The reporter watched with uncertain eyes as she took in the article, her eyes skimming over the brief summary of their interview and of her service for the community. Dual colored eyes turned to the picture next to the article and she looked at it for a few moments. Adora had used one of the pictures she had taken during the trial she attended, where Catra was talking to the boy on the stand. Her face was compassionate and understanding, her presence commanding attention as she stood at the center of attention. 

Looking at her now, Adora saw something akin to pride shining on her face as she looked at the paper in her hands.

“Thank you,” Catra breathed out, her eyes finally turning to look at Adora. Inside her eyes, Adora could see gratitude and wonder, like she couldn’t believe it was actually her. The reporter fidgeted under her gaze and turned to look out at the near-empty parking lot. 

“The full interview is on our website,” Adora said. “I should probably get going,” she gave a small wave as she walked over to where she had parked Glimmer’s car.

“Wait!” Catra called suddenly, prompting Adora to turn to her with a questioning look. “Are you doing anything Friday night?” Catra was looking at anywhere but her, a hand coming up to scratch at her neck. Adora thought it was cute, and she was fully prepared to accept whatever Catra had to offer when she remembered she was busy this weekend. The reporter deflated and she cursed the day she signed up for the Princesses.

“I have a roller derby game, actually. It’s over in Sunset Point,” Adora didn’t bother hiding how dejected she felt, and she prayed this wasn’t her last chance. 

“Oh,” Catra visibly deflated and turned to the ground. “Yeah, I should have figured. Maybe some other time,” she chanced a look at Adora, and the reporter saw a glint of hope in her eyes.

“Uh, yeah, that would be great, actually,” Catra matched Adora’s smile as  _ something  _ passed between them, something Adora held onto with everything she had.

They bid each other goodbye and walked to their cars, Adora able to hear Catra’s car purr to life, even after closing the car door. 

* * *

Back at the office, Adora trudged through the sea of desks and usual hullabaloo of the open floor until she reached her own desk, a short cubicle encasing hers, not nearly high enough to block out the sights and sounds of the Etheria Times. She was only half surprised to find Glimmer sitting at her desk, brow furrowed as she played some game on the computer.

Adora cleared her throat, prompting her friend to glance at her from the corner of her eye before returning to her game. “Oh, hey, traitor,” her tone was flat, eyes focused resolutely on the screen. 

Adora sighed as she stepped in between the chair and her desk, using one foot to roll the chair back as she clicked out of the game, much to Glimmer’s annoyance. 

“It was once time,” Adora turned back to her friend, her hands coming to rest on her hips as she scowled at Glimmer, who was all but pouting. “It’s not like we haven’t gotten lunch together at least a million times, or like that’s going to stop!” Glimmer only let out a  _ hmph  _ in response. 

“It’s fine, I’ve accepted that I’ve been replaced by the insanely hot lawyer,” Glimmer said, her face morphing into a teasing smile as she peered at Adora. 

“She has a name, you know,” was all Adora could say as she tried not to think about how insanely hot she was. But between her perfectly tailored suits, captivating eyes, that killer smirk, her affinity for pocket watches, the thing she does when her hair falls over her face-

Fingers snapping in her face brought Adora back to reality, and she busied herself looking through one of her drawers to hide the flush that worked its way up her neck and spread across her cheeks. She didn’t miss the satisfied look Glimmer was now sporting. 

With a huff, Adora grabbed Glimmer by the arms and yanked her from her chair before occupying the spot and scooting up to reach her desk. Not discouraged by Adora’s brute strength, Glimmer hopped onto Adora’s desk, her legs swinging idly, lightly thumping against the desk.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Adora asked as she pulled up the document she had been working on before her lunch break. 

“First you ditch me during lunch, and now you don’t even want to talk to me?” Glimmer feigned being stabbed in the stomach, bending forward dramatically as she clutched at her imaginary wound.

“We live together!” Adora was finding it harder and harder to handle betrayed Glimmer. 

“It’s fine, I guess,” Glimmer conceded. “Since you’re clearly not interested in her, maybe I’ve got a shot with her,” the look she threw Adora was nothing less than shit-eating, and she was not amused.

After a solid whack to her leg, Glimmer finally had enough of her incessant teasing and left to get back to work. 

Adora’s phone buzzed from inside her bag and, pulling it out, Adora saw it was a text from Catra. She snorted as she typed out a response. 

Apparently, Imp was tagging along to the trial to observe and was already getting on her friend’s nerve. Adora paused at the thought.  _ Are we friends?  _ They had met on multiple occasions and had just gotten lunch together, not to mention Catra seemed interested in seeing each other again. The reporter smiled at the new revelation. 

_ Friends.  _ She supposed that was as good a start as any.

* * *

Adora gasped for breath as she all but collapsed onto the bench next to Mermista, blindly accepting an offered water bottle. Sweat dripped from her face as she took three large gulps of the blessedly cold water. Practice was extra tough today in preparation of their game against the Sunset Point Surfers. Their season had been good so far, but the Surfers were undefeated and were the team to beat for a shot at playoffs. 

“Good hustle today, ladies,” their coach said, patting a few of the players on the back as they slowly exited the rink. “Don’t be late tomorrow night, the bus is leaving at 5:30 sharp,” she looked around the group for signs of acknowledgment, Adora too tired to do anything more than give her a thumbs up. “Hit the showers, you all stink,” and with that, she marched through the double doors into the locker room, leaving the team to their devices. 

Mermista stood up first and offered a hand to Adora, who felt like her muscles had given up. She accepted it with thanks and they made their way into the locker room with the rest of the team who were equally as exhausted. The duo went to the bench in front of their neighboring lockers and plopped onto it.

Bending down, Adora began unlacing her skates, feeling instant relief as she pulled out her aching feet. Mermista began to talk to her as they began to slip off their safety equipment. 

“My parents wanted me to say thanks for the article you wrote on that volunteer chick,” she said, her voice a flat monotone as per usual, “so...thanks.” 

“It was really no problem, though I don’t think it would have been such a big deal if Catra knew it was them who nominated her,” Adora said as they pulled their duffels out from under the bench and began stuffing their pads and helmets inside them. Mermista just shrugged before heading towards the showers.

Rummaging around in her bag, Adora pulled out her phone to see a new text from Catra. 

**_Catra_ **

_ went to heat up leftovers and instead of the usual beeping, the entirety of the 1912 overture played. _

**_Adora_ **

_ Hahaha how does that even happen _

Adora tried hard to fight the smile from forming on her face, but her efforts were futile, and against too great odds. Her and Catra had been texting pretty frequently the past few days, and each time the lawyer’s name flashed across her screen, she got inexplicably excited. 

Someone cleared their throat next to her, causing Adora to jump in surprise. She looked up to see Merimista and Glimmer standing in front of her. 

“Who are you texting?” Glimmer asked, but judging by the tone of her voice, she already had a guess. 

_ Most likely a fairly accurate one, at that,  _ Adora thought as she quickly slipped her phone into her shorts, turning to her locker to get her shower supplies. “No one,” she muttered, but knew her efforts were futile. Mermista and Glimmer were a force of nature when it came to weeding out information, and Adora knew she was screwed. 

She turned to Mermista, “Aren’t you supposed to be in the shower?” Adora was certain she saw her head that way.

“Forgot soap,” she replied flatly, moving to her locker to retrieve said item.

The phone buzzed in her hand. 

**_Catra_ **

_ one word: entrapta. _

**_Catra_ **

_ Did I tell you about the time she almost set our dorm on fire? _

Dots at the bottom corner of her screen let Adora know she was typing, and she was very interested to know more about Catra’s college experience. The lawyer had a seemingly endless amount of shenanigans to recall, and each story left Adora reeling.

“Who’s Catra?” Mermista suddenly asked, leaning over Adora’s shoulder and peering down at her screen. Quickly, Adora shut off her phone and turned to her locker, pulling out her soap and change of clothes.

“No one,” she muttered, but it was too late. 

“Catra is an insanely hot lawyer and who your parents nominated for Hometown Heroes,” Glimmer said before she gasped and gripped Adora’s shoulder. “Wait, you’re texting the insanely hot lawyer?! How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell me?” Adora winced at the questions and turned to find Glimmer and Mermista looking at her with a mix of interrogation and amusement, more so the latter. 

“It’s no big deal, we’re just talking,” Adora hoped to brush off the topic, or at least get them off her case long enough so she could escape. 

Moving back to the bench, Adora grabbed her bag and headed towards the showers, followed by Glimmer and Mermista. 

“So, when’s the next date?” Glimmer asked, voice laced with insinuation. 

“Woah, hold up,” Frosta said, appearing from behind a row of lockers. “Who’s going on a date?” She looked excitedly between the three of them, always eager to be a part of any conversation ever, especially if it involved Glimmer.

“Adora,” Glimmer smirked. “A few days ago she ditched me during our lunch break to go on a lunch date with Catra.” A chorus of  _ ooh’s  _ echoed in the locker room as more of their teammates came to join in the conversation. 

Adora groaned in frustration, “it wasn’t like that! We’re just friends, I think…” the last part came out quietly, and she wasn’t too sure anyone heard her. 

“Then why did you have that stupid grin on your face when she texted you?” Mermista said, prompting more school children’s responses from the team.

“I did not!” Adora tried to defend herself, but it was too late. She would never live this down and the worst part was she wasn’t sure if she minded. “Whatever, I need to shower.” With that, she pushed past her teammates and to the showers.

“Don’t think this is over!” Glimmer called as Adora locked herself into a stall. 

The warm water felt like heaven on her aching muscles, and she ducked her head under the water to rinse off the sweat.

Truth be told, Adora wasn’t sure why she hadn’t told Bow and Glimmer, and why she didn’t want to talk about it. Usually, the three of them told each other everything, no holds barred. There was just something about Catra that made her want to keep it all to herself. Maybe it was that she didn’t want to jinx anything, or maybe it was because this was the first time in a long time she  _ felt  _ something about someone else. There had been many failed relationships in her past, most of them ending due to her  _ inability to figure out what she wants,  _ as one girl had put it as she stormed out of Adora’s life.

Adora never thought about what she wanted, her top priority had been the people around her. Prioritizing the ones she loved was the only way she knew how to show she cared, and she had a certain someone to thank for that. 

Someone she would hopefully get to talk to again. The thought both terrified and excited her, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it because there were only 4 shower stalls and an entire team of sweaty women. 

Adora showered quickly and slipped on her undergarments before conceding the stall to Netossa. Something Adora was quick to learn with sports was that modesty didn’t exist in locker rooms, and Adora had seen plenty of her teammate’s bare asscheeks. 

Going back to her locker, Adora pulled out a pair of shorts and her GU sweatshirt and slipped them on, exhaustion catching up to her. 

Adora suddenly remembered her phone and began reading the novel that Catra had sent about a mishap with a blowtorch and Lysol spray. She was unable to contain her laughter, and seemingly out of nowhere, Glimmer and Mermista were eyeing her again. Thankfully, they said nothing, just exchanged knowing looks before waiting for Adora to finish packing up. 

They exited the locker room and met up with Sea Hawk by the bleachers. Adora and Glimmer bid their goodbyes as they headed out into the night air. The warmth from the sun lingered in the air, but the breeze blowing made Adora glad she had opted for her sweatshirt. 

As they walked through the near-empty parking lot, Adora took note of the leaves that littered the ground and felt excitement bubble inside her at the prospect of Fall. It was her favorite season, and she couldn’t wait for the season to set in fully. 

The car ride back home was silent, and Adora felt herself dozing off every now and then to the dull hum of the road passing by underneath Glimmer’s car. 

Swiftwind greeted them at the door, his tail wagging excitedly as he jumped around, waiting for Adora to give him pets and love. 

“Hey, guys!” Bow greeted from over the back of the couch. Wordlessly, Adora and Glimmer dropped their bags by the door before rounding the couch and plopping down on either side of Bow, Swiftwind following happily and resting his head on Adora’s lap. Adora leaned all the way back on the couch and closed her eyes, one arm reaching up to scratch the top of her dog’s head. 

“How was practice?” Bow asked, pausing whatever show he was watching. All he received in response was tired groans, and he chuckled before turning off the TV. 

“Time for bed,” he said before helping lug his roommates off the couch and ushering them to their rooms. They wished each other goodnight before closing themselves into their rooms, Swiftwind padding inside Adora’s room behind her. 

* * *

Somehow, the Princesses managed to beat the Surfers. It wasn’t easy, and Adora was pretty sure she was going to have a nice shiner, and it also didn’t matter that their winning point was over a technicality, but they won. Adora was sure Mara would insist it was some sort of motherly good luck since she was able to attend the game. 

Seeing Mara out in the crowd,  _ She-Ra _ sign and all, reminded Adora of her days playing hockey. Mara went to every game and practice, and always signed up to bring snacks. At first, she had been embarrassed because she was always the loudest mom, but after having to miss one game because of work, Adora realized how much she loved looking to the crowd after scoring a goal and seeing the proud look on her face. From that moment on, she worked even harder to score points and succeed to make her proud. It was a good motivation, and Adora had helped lead her team to multiple championships.

Even now, as they sat across from each other at Mara’s dining table eating pancakes, the proud smile of a mother remained unwavering. 

“You did so well out there, Adora,” Mara gushed, her eyes shining as she watched Adora scarf down her pancakes. She was still wearing her homemade shirt, the words  _ Etheria Princesses  _ framing their logo, a winged emblem coming to six points with a jewel in the middle. Her long dark hair was streaked with grey, but to Adora, she hadn’t aged a day since she first met her. 

Mara continued to go on about the game before she looked to her daughter with concern. “You really should put some ice on your eye, it looks like that girl got you good,” she said, reaching over and grabbing Adora’s chin, gently turning her face to get a better look. Adora waved her off and began eating again. 

“It’s fine, Mom, this stuff happens all the time,” she said through a mouthful of pancakes. Mara hummed in disapproval, and Adora wasn’t sure if it was because of what she said or the pancakes in her mouth when she said it. Probably both. 

“What,” Adora began, “you don’t think the ladies will like my shiner?” She wiggled her eyebrows but Mara still wasn’t amused. 

“Speaking of  _ the ladies, _ ” Mara said as Adora resumed eating, “is there a special one in your life you want to tell me about?” Adora slowly shook her head, her mind inexplicably going to her phone, where she knew she had an unopened text from Catra. Mara looked unconvinced and like she was about to press further when the phone in question began to buzz incessantly. 

Pulling it out of her pocket, Adora was thoroughly surprised to see Catra’s name flashing across the screen. 

“Uh, one second,” she said, rising from the table. She walked through the kitchen to the living room before accepting the call. 

“Hello?” Adora pressed the phone to her ear, unsure why Catra would be calling her this late at night. She settled onto one of the armchairs, looking out the window and watching the waves lap at the shore.

“ _ Hey, Adora _ ,” Catra sounded shy and a little hesitant. 

“What’s going on?” Adora still wasn’t quite sure what was happening and fear crept into her mind as she thought of reasons why Catra would be calling her like this out of nowhere.

“ _ Well, uh, I’m at the roller rink, _ ” that wasn’t what Adora was expecting, not that she had any inkling as to the reason for the call. “ _ I had Scorpia ask Huntara where you guys get dropped off at and came to take you out to get pancakes, _ ” Catra sounded unsure, and just the slightest bit dejected. Something tumbled in Adora’s stomach and she felt warmth spread over her face and turn her ears red. Did she really do all that just for her? It was past midnight, and it wasn’t like Catra had been at the game to keep her awake and occupied. 

“You’re at the- What?” Adora was flustered, something she hadn’t felt in a long time, and she couldn’t quite comprehend it all. Maybe it was due to her increasing fatigue, or maybe it was because of the pancakes she annihilated, or maybe it was just because Catra was one of the sweetest people Adora had ever met. 

“ _ I just had such a nice time last week and-”  _ she stopped suddenly, Adora pressed her phone closer to her ear, not wanting to miss a word. “ _ So you’re staying in Sunset Point for the weekend? Shimmer told me, _ ” she asked, her tone turning lighter and more casual. Adora wasn’t sure why she was disappointed. 

“Uh, yeah, my mom lives here so I thought I’d stick around and see her,” Adora replied. As their conversation shifted to more casual topics, Adora was able to regain her bearings. 

_ Catra stayed up all night and drove to the rink just so she could go with me to get pancakes… _

“ _ You planning on hitting the beach? The weather has been nice lately. _ ”

_ She went out of her way just to see me. _

“Yeah, I think my mom mentioned something about going down there for a bit tomorrow.”

She couldn’t stop the smile that crept its way onto her face as her heart hammered in her chest. They talked for a few more minutes before Catra admitted that she was tired and they said goodbye for the night. 

Adora stood from the couch and jumped in surprise when she saw Mara standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a knowing smirk on her face. 

“Who was that?” she asked, her arms crossing over her chest as she leaned against the frame. 

“No one,” Adora muttered as she headed towards the stairs.

“So, what? You have that cheesy grin on your face for no reason?” Mara gave her that look that said  _ “I’m your mom and I know when you’re hiding something.” _

Adora exaggerated a yawn before looking down at the nonexistent watch on her hand. “Oh, man! Would you look at the time?” She brisked towards the stairs, flashing Mara a wide grin on her way as she grabbed her duffel bag from its spot by the couch. “I’d better be getting to bed! Goodnight, I love you!” With that, she ran up the stairs, ignoring her mom’s protests.

When she got to the top, the blonde trekked the familiar path to her room and sighed at the nostalgia that engulfed her. For the most part, her room was the same. Posters of hockey players adorned the walls and high shelves proudly displayed trophies from her years of playing sports as a kid. She had taken her dresser when she moved out, but her full size bed was still tucked into the corner underneath a poster of Hilary Knight and her short TV unit was still pressed up against the opposite wall, movies and knick-knacks replaced with picture frames. 

Adora tossed her bag onto the floor before crawling under the covers of her bed, reveling in the smell of  _ home.  _ It was strange laying in bed without fighting with Swifty for space, but she couldn't say she minded being able to stretch out without fear of kicking her dog. 

A few minutes later, Adora heard the soft thumps of Mara’s feet as she climbed the stairs before shutting herself into her own room. 

Rolling onto her back, Adora thought about the reason she was here in the first place, other than because she missed her mom. She wanted, no,  _ needed  _ answers about where she came from. There’d always been something inside her that felt incomplete, but she could never explain it. Maybe if she knew who her parents were or where she was from, she would feel less empty, and she could get the closure she’s been yearning for her whole life. 

The gentle roar of the ocean lulled her to sleep, and she dreamt of falling leaves, the promise of a new season, and mismatched eyes gleaming at her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I don't know why this chapter was so hard for me, but it kept getting away from me and I ended up having to cut it short and move some stuff around so it flows better but it's done! And now we can start getting into some exciting things!! I'm very excited about this story and I hope you are all enjoying it! Thank you so much for reading and for leaving comments and kudos! I appreciate every single one!


	7. Chapter 7

Catra

* * *

Reaching into her pocket, Catra pulled out her small ring of keys and unlocked her office before slipping inside and shutting the door. She rounded her desk and sat down before logging onto her computer and diving back into her work.

At least, the plan was to get back to work, but her thoughts were plagued with a certain blonde and her strange behavior during lunch. It wasn’t that Catra didn’t enjoy her lunch with Adora, which had become somewhat of a weekly occurrence, but it was obvious that Adora had a lot on her mind. 

Catra had tried to make conversation, but Adora mostly responded with half-hearted hums of acknowledgment as her eyes gave away that she was entirely somewhere else. At one point she seemed to clear her head and was actively engaging in conversation, but as soon as Catra asked how her weekend with her mom went, the blonde went back to the space in her head. It was evident that something had probably happened, but Catra wasn’t one to pry into other people’s business. It was clear something was up based on her behavior to the question and the fact that her texts had been less frequent and far shorter than before her trip to Sunset Point. 

Catra didn’t press any farther than asking if she was okay, which was answered with an unconvincing yes, and that was that. Sure that Adora would talk about it if she wanted to, Catra settled to let her work out her own stuff for the time being. 

Turning back to her computer, the lawyer focused back on her work, momentarily pushing away thoughts of Adora. She was able to work for a couple of hours in peace before there was a knock on her door and Kyle strolled in and sank into one of the chairs across from her.

“Please, come in,” Catra’s tone was sarcastic, and she was unable to keep the annoyance from her voice as her train of thought left her entirely at the arrival of her guest. 

“I don’t know what to do, Catra,” Kyle sighed, either completely missing or choosing to ignore her tone. He stared sadly out the window behind her, his body slumped and defeated in his seat. 

_ Then leave,  _ is what Catra wanted to and would have said if Kyle didn’t look so...distressed.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked instead, scrutinizing him with her gaze. Catra didn’t spend much time with or around Kyle unless absolutely necessary, but she was certain the forlorn look on his face wasn’t usual.

“It’s Lonnie,” he sighed. Catra couldn’t help the way her body froze at the words, her eyes snapping up to stare at Kyle. Her mind raced a mile a minute as it pole-vaulted to conclusions, the worst of them being that Lonnie wanted to back out of the contract.

“She’s not trying to back out, is she?” she asked quickly as she tried to figure out the best course of action, her mind scrambling for solutions. 

Kyle looked at her incredulously, like she had just suggested they jump out of the window. 

“No! Nothing like that,” he said and Catra let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding as she relaxed back into her seat, her earlier irritation returning. 

_ First, her barges in here like he owns the place. Then, he scares me half to death because of his blatant inability to communicate! _

Catra sighed and fixed her gaze back on Kyle. “Then why are you talking to me about it?”

“Well, I just don’t know what to do!” Dramatically, he threw his arms in the air before falling back into his seat.

“About  _ what _ ?” Catra said through her teeth. The lawyer felt five seconds away from chucking something at him.

“It’s just that-,” Kyle sighed, his brow furrowing as he searched for the right words. “It just seems like she’s trying to not get attached to the baby,” he settled on. 

“And that’s bad because..” Catra lead him on, hoping he had a valid reason for invading her space.

“It’s bad because Rogelio and I figured she would want to be a part of the baby’s life, but she doesn’t talk about the baby ever and always finds a way to get out of picking out names,” he sighed. 

Catra looked at him, taking the time to consider the situation before her. She couldn’t say she wasn’t surprised at Kyle and Rogelio wanting Lonnie to be a part of the baby’s life after it was born, but she supposed that wasn’t only up to the two of them to decide.

“I think you should just talk to her about it, straight up,” Catra said. “Just because this is something you want doesn’t mean it’s something that she does,” she reasoned, hoping her point got across. If she was planning on giving up her baby for adoption then it was clear she didn’t feel ready to have a baby.

“I guess you’re right,” Kyle sighed before turning back to Catra. “But what if she doesn’t want to? What are we supposed to do?” He asked, looking like a child asking their parents if they were  _ certain  _ monsters didn’t exist.

“That’s between the three of you, there’s not much I can do for you there. Just talk it out and see what she wants, maybe she’s only detaching herself because she doesn’t think you two will want her around after they're born,” Catra said, watching as something like hope washed over Kyle’s face. 

“You’re right!” He said, jumping to his feet with newfound energy. “I’m going to go talk to Rogelio,” and with that, he exited the office, the door slamming shut behind him. 

A few hours passed where Catra was able to get some work done before the phone on her desk rang. Without looking up from her computer, she reached over and answered.

“Catra de Leon,” she muttered into the receiver, but immediately froze when the caller spoke.

“ _ Catra,”  _ Hordak said, his voice conveying his powerful presence, even from over the phone. “ _ I require your presence in my office,”  _ and with that, Catra’s adoptive father hung up the phone, the unspoken  _ now  _ leaving Catra scrambling up from her seat and out the office. She navigated her way through the building and to the elevator, pressing the button for the next floor up. Catra used the short time to straighten her clothes and tighten her tie, something cold clutching her chest as her mind scrambled again to figure out why Hordak would be calling her to his office. The lawyer thought of her past few cases and clients, but was unable to think of any mistakes or protocol breaches that would warrant his attention, and he damn sure wasn’t calling her to give her praise or for a chat.

The doors opened to the administrative floor, and Catra made her way to Hordak’s office. The blinds were shut tight, the nameplate reading  _ John Hordak, managing partner  _ staring back at her dauntingly as she knocked on the door. 

A gruff  _ come in  _ came from the other side and Catra turned the handle and pushed the door open, split eyes immediately landing on Hordak as he sat behind his massive desk, his eyes roaming the monitor of his computer. She knew better than to sit, and stood behind the two leather seats situated on her side of the desk, hands sliding into her pants pockets as she waited for him to acknowledge her. Every second she stood there the higher the tension in her body rose, and she fought every bone in her body to keep from fidgeting or showing her irritation at being all but ignored.

“Friday night I’m arranging a dinner with you, John, and Steve,” was all Hordak said, piercing green eyes never leaving the screen. His cold presence and lack of most emotion always set Catra on edge, and every time she thought it would be the last time, he would send her right back to where she was all those years ago when they first met.

“I’m busy Friday night,” she managed, remembering how Adora had insisted on Catra going to her game so they could get pancakes to make up for the week prior. Catra almost smiled as she remembered how apologetic Adora had been that Catra had waited for her and her insistence that she be allowed to pay for pancakes. Almost.

Hordak looked at her for the first time, his face still blank, save for his almost imperceptible irritation. “You really should fix how you answer the phone,” he said, gaze boring into her. “Professionalism is something I expect from all of my employees and I don’t see why you should be an exception.” He turned back to his computer and began typing.

Catra shifted her weight to her other foot and clenched her hands that were hidden in her pockets. She stood there for what felt like an eternity before he spoke again, taking a short pause in his typing. “Saturday, then.” Nimble fingers flew over the keyboard again and Catra accepted the silent dismissal.

She didn’t hesitate to turn on her heel and exit the room, careful not to let the door slam behind her. She trekked back the way she came, eager to get back to her office. Imp passed by on her way to the elevator and resisted the urge to trip him as he walked by, deciding that tripping him right before he went to see Hordak might not be the smartest move on her part.

Catra thought back to her short childhood spent in the Hordak household, if you could even call it that. Just because you live somewhere and mark it as your address on documents doesn’t mean it’s a home, Catra had learned that lesson early on. That’s not to say Hordak was neglectful and didn't care for his kids, there just wasn’t any emotional capacity behind his actions. Catra and John were given their own rooms, three meals a day, and practically anything else they wanted, so long as they obeyed the rules and didn’t give the nanny too much trouble. But there’s so much more children need besides toys, and Hordak’s cold demeanor and constant ignoring of them had left them scrambling to find ways to get his attention. Hordak hardly gave them the time of day, only paying attention to them if they misbehaved or slacked in school, occasionally giving praise if they excelled. 

This caused resentment to grow between the adopted siblings as they fought for the spot of his favorite. Catra was much older than John Jr., but that didn’t stop him from trying to one-up her whenever he could, but nothing he said or did could stop Hordak from choosing Catra to be the first to inherit his business. Even before John was adopted Hordak had told Catra of his wishes for her to go to law school and one day take over the company. He never said it outright, but there was no doubt in Catra’s mind that Hordak only wanted children so he had someone to leave his company to that he could trust. Nevertheless, John still worked to prove himself worthy and was still fighting for attention, the only difference was that now Catra didn’t care. 

After a while, she stopped caring that Hordak didn’t give a rat's ass about her besides what she could do for him and his company. She found friends who didn’t care about what she could do for them and didn’t only keep her around for convenience, they kept her around because of who she is as a person, and no amount of Hordak’s cold stare could take that away from her. 

In this way, she felt sorry for John Jr. All he had known his whole life was Hordak’s cold stare, and she knew he buried himself in his work constantly, leaving no time to go out and build a life of his own  _ away  _ from Hordak & Hordak. Catra had her work at the Salineas Youth Foundation and her friends to fall back on, all John had was a father who never showed if he cared and uncle whom he hated. 

Catra was snapped out of her musings as she began to pack up her briefcase, ready to be rid of the day.

Rogelio’s blinds were open, so she gave him a wave as she passed his office on her way out. Kyle was sitting across from him and over-enthusiastically waved her good-bye, and looked like he might have been about to get up and try and talk to her. She quickened her pace and rounded the corner before he got the chance. 

It was warm outside, the breeze blowing around Catra ruffled her hair as she found her car and slipped in, dropping her briefcase onto the seat next to her as she started the car. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages. 

There was a text from Scorpia asking her to pick up dinner and a few from Adora. Opening the  _ Super Pal Trio  _ group chat, Catra asked them what they wanted from the Chinese place they frequented before opening the messages from Adora.

The reporter had been hunkering down on finishing her exposé, meaning less frequent texting throughout the workday, but Catra couldn’t complain, not when she was sure to be met with at least one text from Adora at the end of each workday. 

**_Adora_ **

_ what do you think dogs think about when we’re not home? _

_ do they think we’ve abandoned them ?? _

_ what if swifty thinks I’m never coming home every day and thats why hes so excited when I do _

There was a series of crying emojis that made Catra smile. She had never had any pets growing up, Hordak didn’t want to have to deal with potential pee stains on his expensive carpets and rugs, so she couldn’t really relate to Adora’s perpetual fear of upsetting her dog.

**_Catra_ **

_ im sure by now he knows ull b back _

_ also hes excited to see u bc u give him food _

Catra buckled her seat belt and was about to pull out of the spot when her phone buzzed again. Scorpia and Entrapta had texted their orders and Adora had sent more crying emojis. 

Pulling out of the spot and turning onto the main road, Catra couldn’t help the smile that tugged on her lips as she thought about the existential crisis Adora was no doubt having about whether her dog had abandonment issues or not. 

When she reached the restaurant, she went inside and ordered. She pulled out her phone again as she waited for the food to be done. 

**_Adora_ **

_ he doesn't only love me because I feed him !! _

**_Catra_ **

_ well duh _

_ you also let him leave his prison to go outside _

The dots popped up to indicate that Adora was typing, and Catra smiled mischievously, knowing she had flustered the reporter yet again. This wasn’t the first time Catra had expressed her confusion about Adora’s relationship with her dog, and if she could help it, it wouldn’t be that last. There’s just something so satisfying about pushing Adora’s buttons.

**_Adora_ **

_ MY APARTMWT IS NKT A PRISON !!!!! _

_ GE LOVE IT HERE AND HW LOVES MW AND WERE BEDT FRUENDS _

It took all of Catra’s willpower not to burst out laughing as she read the texts. Adora was usually pretty conscientious about her typos, and seeing so many was just icing on the cake. 

**_Catra_ **

_ sureeeee _

_ keep telling urself that, princess _

Catra didn’t get the chance to see what she said because the worker appeared with her bags of food, and she needed both hands to carry everything. The smile that graced her lips didn’t go away, even after she got in the car and drove off, not until she parked in the parking garage and called Scorpia to help her bring in everything. 

* * *

“I still don't understand why you’re still upset,” Entrapta said, food forgotten on the table as she made her argument. “I made the microwave beep the  _ 1912 Overture _ , you said it was too long and you didn’t like it, so I changed it,” she said, purple pigtails swinging as she looked back and forth between Catra and Scorpia, waiting for someone to concede. 

“To  _ Flight of the Valkyries _ !” Catra inserted, taking a large bite of rice.

“And then I changed it again!” She countered. “Since neither of you liked either song, I came to the conclusion that switching genres would yield better results,” she explained matter of factly. 

“Did it have to be  _ Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go _ ?” Catra sighed, her frustration draining as tiredness began to set in. 

“Yes,” Entrapta said around her straw. “That song is proven to enhance moods, according to a Youtube video I watched,” she said. 

“I kind of liked it,” Scorpia spoke up for the first time since the argument began. Entrapta seemed pleased at this and Catra saw her hand twitch as she fought back the urge to grab her recorder.

Catra sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose as the annoyance from the day fizzed and settled into tiredness. She was tired of arguing and knew that it would be pointless in the end, Entrapta would mess with it whether she wanted her to or not.    
  


“Fine,” Catra gestured to nothing, relinquishing her argument and noting the excited look on Entrapta’s face. “Just, make it something short, please.” 

Catra’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she slipped it out to see a new text from Adora. 

“Hey, no work at the table,” Scorpia pointed her chopsticks auditorily at Catra who rolled her eyes.

“It’s just Adora,” she said, holding her phone up enough so Scorpia could see it was just her messaging app open before reading the text.

**_Adora_ **

_ hey, just wanted to see if you’re still up for going out friday after the game? _

**_Catra_ **

_ totally _

_ you still owe me for standing me up _

**_Adora_ **

_ sorry :(  _

_ I’ll buy ur coffee _

**_Catra_ **

_ chill im joking _

_ maybe _

Catra looked up to see Scorpia and Entrapta looking at her with insinuating and curious eyes respectively. 

“What?” She asked defensively as she ate the last bite of her chicken. Scorpia gave her a knowing look but before she could say anything, Entrapta spoke up.

“You’ve been texting her a lot,” she said, setting her calculating eyes right at Catra who shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was used to rooms full of people staring at her, scrutinizing everything she said, but the gazes of her roommates were making her nervous. 

“That’s what friends do, or have you forgotten since you spend your time in your room?” Entrapta didn’t take the bait, and instead leaned closer in her seat, gaze unwavering. 

“Your face is getting redder by the second, and every time you mention her your demeanor completely changes,” she said, hand twitching again for the recorder that was in her room. 

“I do not!” Catra argued, but knew that, once again, Entrapta would continue on whether she wanted her to or not. 

“Increasing defensiveness paired with aforementioned behavior leads me to believe Catra may have feelin-” she was abruptly cut off by Catra scooting her chair away from the table noisily as she let out an over-exaggerated yawn. 

“Well, I’m beat,” she said, collecting her trash and disposing of it in the trash can. “As much as I would love to continue this invigorating conversation-”

“Doubt it,” Entrapta muttered. 

“-I’m going to get some rest so I don’t strangle someone tomorrow from sleep deprivation.” With that, Catra bid her roommates good night and closed herself in her room. 

The blankets were cold as she snuggled underneath them, but quickly warmed with her added body heat. She opened the new messages from Adora.

**_Adora_ **

_ I’m soryyyyy _

_ to be fair, it’s not my fault _

_ ff you would have told me u were gonna go I would have told u not to so….. _

**_Catra_ **

_ wow, didnt think u were one to victim blame _

_ i get stood up and suddenly its my fault :(( _

**_Adora_ **

_ :( _

**_Catra_ **

_ haha jk _

_ dont take everything personally _

**_Adora_ **

_ gee, now why would I take a personal attack on my character personally _

**_Catra_ **

_ idk cuz ur dumb _

_ jk calm down _

**_Adora_ **

_ whatever _

_ I gotta get up early tomorrow so I’m gonna get some sleep _

_ goodnight !! _

**_Catra_ **

_ night, dummy _

* * *

Catra went to the game and watched as the Princesses got demolished by the Mystacore Maniacs. At least, she thought that’s what happened. She still wasn’t entirely sure about the whole thing, but judging by the crowd’s reaction and the growing frustration of the team, it wasn’t good. But Catra was nothing if not supportive, sometimes, so she was sure to yell her choice of expletives at the refs while the crowd booed, even if she wasn’t entirely sure why they were mad. 

Catra met Adora outside the locker room, and it was immediately clear that Adora wasn’t in a good mood. The blonde had changed out of her uniform and into a pair of shorts paired with her GU sweatshirt, her hair loose from its ponytail and hanging down her back, still damp from her shower. She had a scowl fixed on her face, but despite the intense look, her shoulders were hanging low as she stared daggers at the ground. 

“Hey, Adora,” Catra greeted after a few seconds of silence. Adora seemed to snap out of her stupor, her eyes locking onto Catra’s before an almost imperceptible smile broke her frown. “Too bad about the game, but you were still amazing out there,” Catra hoped her tone was reassuring, but Adora didn’t look any better. 

“If I was we would have won, but thanks,” she sighed, Catra picked up a hint of remorse. Or was it guilt? Shame? She wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, it was not good. 

“Ready for some pancakes?” Catra tried to turn the mood around with the prospect of Adora’s favorite food, but to no avail. 

“Actually, I was hoping we could go get drinks with everyone else?” She looked at Catra like she was expecting her to immediately turn down the offer, but Catra was a little taken aback at the statement and had to take a moment to process the words. If she wasn’t worried before, she was now. This was so very unlike Adora, especially since she had been hyping up their pancake da- er,  _ hangout-  _ all week. 

“You totally don’t have to go, if you don’t want to,” Adora rushed out, her features turning to anxious anticipation. 

“No, uh, that’s okay,” Catra finally managed, her thoughts moving too fast for her to be able to keep up with the conversation. 

_ Does she not want to hang out with me? _

Catra found that highly unlikely, considering Adora had asked about five times a day all week if she wanted to go to the diner again. She managed to brush it off long enough to arrange who was riding with who to the bar, and it was decided that she, along with the fanboy man and Adora’s non-sparkly roommate, were designated drivers. 

Catra recognized the bar from when she and Adora came to pick up their friends, and the memory of that night settled something warm inside her. She held the door open for Adora and followed her and her and the group inside. 

A few minutes later, she found herself inside the surprisingly large space squished between Adora and Sparkled in a large enough booth to fit everyone. It was there that Adora tried to get Catra to remember everyone’s names, but Catra was nothing if not difficult, especially if it involved Adora. 

“Okay, I think I got it this time,” Catra said, peering at the occupants of the table who were in a heated debate about something. “I’ve met Sparkles, Rainbow is the one who just looks happy to be here, Mermaid is the one next to Fanboy, Wrong Blondie is the one that looks like a 70s era reject, and then there’s the college student.” The exasperated look on Adora’s face was priceless, and Catra wished she could take a picture to remember it perfectly. 

“Seriously?” She asked, her head shaking in disapproval. “You had one job,” she said. “All you had to do was remember…” Catra took a sip of her soda while Adora’s gaze bounced around the table, “six people’s names!” 

“That’s seven if you include yours, so really you should be thanking me that I even got that much,” she was unable to contain her smirk as Adora all but imploded next to her. Catra watched with a trace of amusement as the blonde took a long sip of her drink. 

“I still can’t believe that ref!” Glimmer exclaimed, drawing Catra and Adora into the conversation. 

“That game sucked ass, what even happened?” Frost mused, looking around the table at her teammates. Catra felt Adora tense up beside her, but she remained silent, her gaze unwavering from where she stared at the table. The derby players talk about the game, complaining about the referees and the other team. Catra tried to keep up, but she was still unfamiliar with the terminology, so she turned back to Adora instead to find the blonde still staring at the table with a stone cold look. 

“Hey, it was still awesome when you decked that girl in the face with your elbow,” Catra said with a small nudge. Adora startled and gave her an unconvincing smile before sipping her drink again. 

“I’m going to get another drink,” she muttered, still looking at nothing in particular. Catra looked down at the glass that was only a little less than halfway gone.

“You still have half of it left,” her brow quirked up in confusion as she turned back to Adora and watched with concern laced with mild amusement as Adora looked at her drink for one, two seconds before downing the rest and standing up. Catra watched as she weaved through the bar and out of sight behind the crowd of dancing people in the middle. 

Catra tuned back into the conversation for about four seconds before she got bored and slipped out of the booth. She worked her way over to the bar, shoving past drunk people dancing and ignoring the girls trying to get her attention. 

She found Adora sitting on a stool at the edge of the bar next to the wall, her shoulders slumped as she leaned heavily onto her elbows, unfocused eyes staring ahead. Catra saw a lanky guy with short black hair eyeing Adora and then the empty seat next to her. She quickened her pace and slipped onto the seat right as he got there, throwing him a threatening look. She heard him say something before walking off, but ignored him in favor of turning towards Adora. The blonde glanced up as she sat down but didn’t say anything. Catra’s concern increased as she took in the dejected look on her face, and she feared Adora took the loss a lot harder than she was hoping to let on. 

“Adora, what’s going on?” Catra sighed, unable to hold in her curiosity. At Adora’s scrunched up face, Catra backtracked. “You were acting weird at lunch the other day and now you seem off,” she explained, watching as Adora’s posture sunk impossibly lower as she took a slow sip of her drink. “Ever since you got back from your mom’s you’ve seemed really in your head.” Adora tensed at the words but said nothing. 

“Look, I just…” Adora trailed off, her mouth forming words that never came out before she sighed and shook her head. It was clear she either wasn’t sure what to say or didn’t want to talk about it at all, and Catra was never one to push people. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” her voice was small, and the way she sounded so unsure tugged at Catra’s heart and made her want to do whatever she could to help Adora. 

“Alright,” Catra sighed, waving down the bartender. “But I’m not leaving you alone because drinking alone is probably the most depressing shit ever,” this earned a laugh from Adora, and she tried to ignore the way Adora was watching her as she ordered another soda.  _ Tried  _ being the key word, seeing as she could feel her skin burning, and she was lit absolutely on fire when she glanced over and saw the look she was getting from the blonde. Deciding to blame it on the blonde’s increasing state of intoxication, she ignored it and paid for her drink.

They sat in silence for a long while, but not once did Catra contemplate going somewhere else. Sitting in that moment with Adora made Catra feel something she was neither acquainted with nor was it a stranger to her. Nothing particular was happening, Adora was silently stewing next to her, eyes remaining trained on a set spot across the counter, and Catra was just there, drinking her Coke and ignoring the suggestive looks from the bartender. If it had been anyone else she was sure she’d have left them to go do something else or insisted they engage with her, but there was something about Adora letting her in on this moment of uncertainty and inner turmoil that kept her rooted to the spot, despite how she had resigned herself to playing with the drops of condensation on the counter. 

Eventually, the group found them at the bar to tell them they were ready to go and they all exited together. Once outside, they began arranging rides home and saying goodbyes. Perfuma didn’t live far from Catra so she offered her a ride so she didn’t have to pay for an uber. 

“So, I’ll see you next week?” Catra said, watching the smile on Adora’s face grow and memorizing it in her head. 

_ Wait, no…  _ Catra didn’t have time to mull that thought over as she found herself being pulled into a tight hug by the blonde. 

Her first reaction was  _ muscles,  _ but once she pushed that down she managed to bring her arms up to reciprocate, the smell of shea butter conditioner flooding her senses as she was enveloped in the warm embrace. The only word she could think of to describe the sensation was  _ Adora.  _

Eventually, she had to let go, and Catra pointedly ignored the side-eye she was receiving from Sparkles. “Thank you,” Adora breathed, eyes cloudy from the drinks but her smile was still soft and sweet enough to cause heat to rise to Catra’s face.

“What for?” Catra found a spot at the ground to look at, scared her body would betray her if she continued to look at Adora. 

“For just...being there.” She didn’t need to say any more for Catra to get the message, and she offered a shrug in response. They bid each other goodbye and Catra took off across the parking lot with Perfuma. 

The car ride was just short of awkward, the only noise coming from Perfuma giving directions, but in that silence, Catra couldn’t help but notice the too long glances from her passenger. It was clear she was more than a little drunk if the way she kept laughing at nothing was any indication, and Catra brushed off her offer to come up for drinks as casually as she could.

Catra watched her disappear into her building before pulling off, ready to be back home and in her bed, the dread of the next day beginning to set in. 

* * *

  
Catra arrived fifteen minutes early to Hordak’s house. A small mansion would be a more accurate description, with hedge statues and elaborate water structure to boot. Growing up in a place like this was any kid's dream, but the facade lost its luster once Catra realized a big house just meant it was easier for her adoptive father to ignore her. 

She didn’t bother knocking before pushing going in, the creak of the door echoing around the large entryway. The butler who was sitting in a chair near the door looked startled at first, but went back to his phone after recognizing her. She never bothered to learn his name because she was sure Hordak would fire him sooner or later. So far, he had been around the last few ties she had visited, which was saying a lot. For all of two seconds she debated finally asking his name, but decided against it.

It wasn’t hard navigating the familiar halls to the dining room, and the portraits on the walls were still as creepy as when she was a kid. The only difference was that the house seemed impossibly colder, not much different than when she was a kid, wandering the empty halls for the first time and wondering how she got so lucky. 

Growing up, the house was usually echoing with the sounds of Catra and John running around, playing whatever game they could agree on before breaking out into a brawl. Never near Hordak’s office, though. That was the only place that was off-limits, and they were quick to remember that rule. 

Now, the only sounds were Catra’s footsteps against the wooden floors, the halls dark save for a few odd lamps here and there. Now, she knew the nature of her adoptive father and knew no amount of shiny toys and expensive furniture could fill the hole she felt deep inside. She passed by a few of the staff who gave her a small nod and smile as they went, Catra returning the nod in kind. 

Wrong Hordak was sitting at the table already, to the left of the head of the table where Hordak would be sitting, no doubt exactly as the clock chimed 7 pm. 

“Catra! It’s good to see you,” Wrong Hordak said, causing Catra to smile at the genuine nature of his sentiment. 

“Good to see you, too,” she smiled, taking her seat across from him. They talked for a few minutes about work before Hordak bustled in, wordlessly taking his seat. Catra glanced at her watch to see it was exactly 7 pm, on the dot. 

Green eyes scanned the rooms before landing on Catra. 

“Where’s John?” He asked, the annoyance in his tone clear as day. 

“I don’t know,” she replied, watching his posture stiffen as he glared at the spot to Catra’s right, where he should have been sitting. Just then the chef’s came out with their starters, ending any conversation that might have occurred about the absence of her brother. 

They were in the middle of their salads when Imp finally strolled in, a smug grin etched onto his face as he greeted everyone with a wave. His expression dropped to contempt as he saw Catra sitting to the right of Hordak, and he wordlessly took his spot next to her.

The seating arrangement was always the same at these functions, something Imp was always annoyed about. 

“Why does she get to sit there every time?” He had asked one time, fed up with not being the golden boy.

“Once you prove that you are a competent member of this family then maybe I'll consider it,” had been Hordak’s response. Imp hadn’t spoken for the rest of the meal, and his contempt for Catra only seemed to grow. She couldn’t really blame him for being angry, but it was hard to sympathize with him when he was an ass most of the time...all the time.

Wrong Hordak talking to no one in particular about some show cut through the sounds of cutlery scraping against plates before they were taken away in favor of their main course. Catra looked at the perfectly grilled steak and mashed potatoes on her plate and for a moment missed her days living at Hordak’s sanctum, if only for the food.

Wrong Hordak was very clearly in the middle of talking when Imp cut in, no doubt because the attention wasn’t on him. Catra rolled her eyes as he began talking about school.

“-and she says I’m almost exactly where I should be for success,” he ended his little grasp at praise with a defiant look towards Catra, who ignored him in favor of eating a bite of mashed potatoes. 

Imp jumped as Hordak suddenly slammed down his cup after he took a sip. Catra spared a glance and found his cold stare directed right at Imp. She made brief eye contact with Wrong Hordak before they wordlessly returned to their food, bracing themselves for Hordak to rip Imp a new one. 

“If I were you,” Hordak began slowly, the steel in his eyes betraying his calm tone, “I would not be bragging about not being where you should be at.” For Imp’s sake, Catra hoped that would be the end of it, but Hordak had other plans. 

“Catra was the top of her class during the entirety of her academic career and passed all of her classes with flying colors, now look where she is.” Catra winced at the mention of her name, knowing this would only fuel the animosity between her and her adoptive brother. “Meanwhile,” he continued, “you  _ barely  _ managed to get an internship at your own father’s law firm. Perhaps if instead of wasting time showboating non-existent accomplishments you actually focused on studying then maybe I would actually feel confident in your ability to get a job at  _ any _ law firm, much less mine.” The room fell to complete silence after that, the sound of Hordak’s cutlery against his plate somewhat breaking the tension as they began to eat again. Catra chanced a glance at Imp to see him sitting completely still, his eyes staring at the plate in front of him as he quietly seethed in his chair. 

Catra felt bad, and even though he was a little shit, she would never forget what it felt to be on the receiving end of scathing remarks and the feeling of failure. 

The rest of the meal was quiet, everyone seemingly in their own thoughts all the way through dessert. Catra felt a smile tug at her lips as she thought about how much Adora would have loved the chocolate mousse they were having after learning about the blonde’s sweet tooth.

That thought alone kept her from imploding as Hordak bid them an impersonal goodbye, shaking their hands in lieu of some form of affection.

_ God forbid he show an emotion other than annoyance or contempt,  _ Catra thought as they walked the halls and out the front door. Imp still hadn’t spoken since Hordak shut down his boasting, the anger clear in his clenched fists and the way he was still staring down, stewing in his thoughts. 

Catra walked over to him and tentatively offered a smile. “Don’t take it too hard,” she said. His eyes snapped to her, and she was momentarily startled at the familiar cold stare. She had seen that look too many times on Hordak, and seeing it on his self-proclaimed junior was startling. She shook away her momentary shock to get back to her attempt at an olive branch. “He would not get off my ass the entire time I was in school, he just has really high expectations, but-” she was cut off by an empty laugh from Imp. 

“What the hell do you know?” he spat. “You’re just some wannabe lawyer who somehow managed to weasel her way into the spot of his favorite, but you don’t deserve it! You walk around in your expensive suits and your fancy car, but you would have  _ nothing  _ if it weren’t for him paying for all of your shit! You didn’t earn any of it, it was handed to you on a silver platter!” Catra’s fists were clenched at her sides, and she wasn’t sure if it was possible to actually see red, but she was sure her vision was tinted crimson. Her heart began pounding relentlessly in her chest, and she was about to respond and say he was just a spoiled brat, but he wasn’t done. “You know, I’ve seen where you live, in that trashy apartment with those two freaks of nature. I bet they’re a couple of dykes, just like you!” That was it. Catra didn’t know what came over her, maybe if it had been a different day or a different week, she would have been able to stop herself. 

In an instant, she had one fist balled into the front of Imp’s shirt, pulling him eye-level, while her other hand reared back, ready to punch him in his stupid face. Catra hadn’t felt that kind of rage in a long time, and she was almost scared at how easy it was able to take over her and spring her to action. 

“Say that again!” she challenged, relishing in the panic in Imp’s eyes. “Say something about me or my friends again and see what happens!” His face morphed into a smirk again, and Catra began to take in short, deep breaths to try and contain her anger. 

“What are you going to do about it, you stupid dyke?” The satisfied smirk on his dumb face was short-lived, and it took every ounce of willpower Catra possessed to bring her other hand to his shirt and throw him to the ground instead of punching him square in the face. 

Quickly, Catra walked away, the roaring in her ears making it easy to block out whatever Imp was yelling after her, but his bitch ass was too scared to go after her. 

Catra seethed the entire drive back to her apartment, completely ignoring Scorpia and Entrapta as she locked herself in her room. 

The closest thing to her was the small paperweight on her dresser, which made a satisfying bang as she chucked it against the wall. Next she tugged the shoes off her feet, not even bothering with the strings, before chucking them each against the same wall, each thud echoing in the dark room and reverberating inside her hollow chest.

The constraints of her suit made her groan in frustration as she struggled out of her jacket and tie, slamming them as forcefully as she could onto the ground before pulling at her shirt until it was untucked from her pants. She began unbuttoning her shirt, her breaths still coming short and deep as she struggled to remain somewhat calm, eyes stinging with tears fighting to break loose. 

Halfway down the row of buttons, she was met with an unruly button that didn’t want to budge. She felt the anger bubbling in her begin to resurface, the shoe sacrifice doing little to appease its hunger.

“Come on,” she said, her fingers working furiously to undo the button but unable to because of how they were shaking. “Come on!” She said again, more forceful as it became increasingly harder to even keep her fingers on the stupid piece of plastic. 

“ _ Fuck! _ ” She yelled, the anger that had been bubbling finally spilling over as she grabbed both sides of her shirt and ripped it the rest of the way open before collapsing onto the floor. Her vision blurred with tears as she laid in the pool of her defeat, her body finally giving in to all she was feeling. She sobbed into the carpet of her room, the only light coming from the moonlight spilling into her room. At some point, she thought she heard someone knock, so she pulled off a sock and threw it at the door. She didn’t hear anything after that. 

Catra wasn’t sure how long she laid there, but long after the tears had dried she managed to lift herself off of the floor and collapsed onto the bed. Her head had barely landed on the pillow before she fell into a deep, cold sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry this update took so long, but I was finishing up summer classes and then packing to go back to school and playing overwatch! This is also the longest chapter of the whole thing so far, and I also hadn't had anything planned past chapter 6 so I had to go through and do all of that before I could write anything, but I have it planned through chapter 9 and I had to make a calendar bc I was confusing myself and anyways ,, next chapter is Adora again and we'll get to see what happened at Mara's and I'm super duper excited because now we're starting to really get into some stuff and !!!
> 
> I start classes next week and I got a job so updates will probably pretty slow and infrequent just cuz I'll be writing whenever I get the chance so I can't be 100% sure when that'll be :(
> 
> If I made a tumblr account for this fic where I post updates and stuff would you be interested in that? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and sticking with this fic! I appreciate all the kudos and comments so keep 'em coming!


	8. Chapter 8

Adora

* * *

Two weeks. That’s how long it’s been since Adora went to Sunset Point. 

Well, a week and a half. To Adora, it may have been a lifetime. She hadn’t gone a day without thinking about it, and she was using it as an excuse for her poor performance during the derby match the week prior. She still wasn’t over the loss, and she knew that if her head were in the right space they would have won, or at least not have gotten absolutely demolished. 

Adora was so caught up in her own head she didn’t register Bow’s voice until he had already finished talking. She looked up from where she had been pushing around her eggs to see the concerned faces of her best friends. 

“What?” She asked, blinking out of her thoughts as she focused back on reality. 

Bow had the morning off and Glimmer and Adora didn’t have to be in the office for the day, allowing for a shared morning breakfast. Bow had insisted on making them a full meal, but Adora barely even noticed it, instead stuck inside her own head. 

“I asked if you were feeling okay,” Bow said. “You’ve barely touched your breakfast, and I even made your favorite!” It was true, and Adora looked at the stack of pancakes on her plate, steam rolling off the top as the smell invaded her senses. 

“I’m just not very hungry, I guess,” Adora said. It was a weak excuse, and the incredulous look Glimmer gave her confirmed that it was inadequate. They resumed their talk about their trip the upcoming weekend to Elberon. Bow had to go for some conference for his work that Glimmer and Perfuma were also going to interview some hot shot tech guru that was going to be a guest speaker.

Realizing that she actually wasn’t hungry, Adora pushed her plate away and got up from the table. Bow and Glimmer exchanged a familiar glance before watching her walk away. Adora was halfway to her room before Swifty got up from his spot under the table and followed her inside. 

She still had about an hour before she had to leave to go to work, so she sat back on her bed, propped against the headboard as she looked down at her phone. Swifty hopped onto the bed and laid flush next to her, his head coming to rest on the shin of her leg. 

Adora pulled up the newest contact she had saved, staring at the once familiar name. She watched as her thumb hovered over the _call_ button, but never closed the gap to touch the screen. Adora had never been a very decisive person, at least when she wasn’t in the rink, and spontaneity had never been a word to describe her disposition. There had been many missed adventures with her friends due to hesitation, her mind thinking too much of the consequences to allow her the chance to live freely. It was a miracle she even had the new number, but her need for answers won over her apprehension. But once again, she was unable to make herself hit the call button, and she feared she’d never work up the nerve.

* * *

“You make the dumbest faces when you’re thinking about something,” Catra said across from her, smirking over the rim of her coffee cup. Adora rolled her eyes, used to the lawyer’s backward way of showing affection. They were at the Heart of Etheria for lunch, a weekly occurrence Adora found herself looking forward to. 

“I was just thinking,” Adora said, hoping her answer didn’t sound as dumb as she knew it was.

Catra rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I got that part. What about?” Her tone was innocent enough, but Catra had been the first to notice her strange behavior, no matter how sneaky she thought she was being. Adora often thought about that night at the bar, about how sweet Catra had been to come sit with her, how considerate she had been to respect her wishes of privacy. She had also been thinking a lot about Catra, and how her heart fluttered every time she thought about her. 

Her face, her voice, her smile. 

That, coupled with her plaguing and indecisive thoughts, left her with little time to spend in the present. She was painfully aware of how little time she had been spending with Bow and Glimmer, opting to be shut alone in her room rather than hanging out in the living room with them. She knows that they’ve noticed her behavior, but they always share that same concerned look and leave her be. 

“Earth to Adora!” Catra said, playfully waving a hand in front of Adora’s face. She must not have liked the look she got in return because a crease set in her brow as she reconsidered the reporter. “Are you okay?” Her voice was soft and sincere, and Adora couldn’t find her voice. 

Adora just shrugged, taking a sip from her empty cup. 

“Look, I didn’t want to say anything because it’s your business but,” Catra looked away for a moment, collecting her thoughts before sitting up from her slouched position and resting her arms on the table. “Ever since you got back from visiting your mom, you’ve been acting weird. You’ve been spacey and losing focus, which, from what I know about you, isn’t normal.” Adora failed to ignore the butterflies trying to burst from her stomach. It wasn’t that Catra had said anything particularly groundbreaking, and she was entirely accurate, but the thought of Catra thinking about her in any capacity sent her mind spinning.

“Then,” Catra continued, breaking Adora out of her wandering thoughts, “you went all Dark Knight after the game.” The butterflies made their return as Adora thought about Catra being concerned about her. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

The truth was, Adora felt like she was going to implode, and that reminder pulled her from the gay spiral she was previously tumbling down. She hadn’t told Bow or Glimmer what had happened, and was hoping that if she held it in long enough that a solution would magically present itself. 

So far, that plan had been unsuccessful. 

No matter how hard or for how long she stared at the number, she just couldn’t seem to get herself to press the damn _call_ button _._

Adora looked at Catra, taking in the confusion and concern on her face, split colored eyes searching for an answer. She couldn’t put a finger on how or when they got to the point of weekly lunches and frequent texts, but what she was certain of was that Catra had become a constant in her life, one that she hadn’t known she would want or need so much. 

Talking to her came as a break from reality, at least in some aspects. Their conversations were light and easy, never straying into anything too heavy, but something in the way Catra seemed to know exactly what she needed suggested that that could change too. 

Judging by the way Catra was still peering at her, Adora figured it could change as easily as they switched from being total strangers to friends. 

_Should I tell her?_

A part of her scolded herself for considering telling Catra before her best friends, but wasn’t that the route their friendship seemed to be taking anyway? Presumptuous thoughts aside, Catra’s entire brand was based on brutal honesty, and Adora knew she would tell it to her straight. 

She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t seem to form the words. It wasn’t like she was confessing to murder or anything, _so why is it so hard?_

It hit her as she watched Catra take a careful bite from her sandwich, careful to eat over the table so as not to get food all over her suit. 

She was nervous. Scared. If she said what was bothering her out loud then it became real, and she would feel more inclined to take action. That thought alone was scary enough but the idea of sharing that with another person? With _Catra?_

The woman in question put her sandwich back onto the wrapper as she chewed, and a smile crept onto Adora’s face as she saw a smear of mustard at the edge of her mouth, effectively pulling her thoughts away from her internal struggle. 

“You have something there,” she gestured to the spot and watched as a pink tongue poked out and poked around the edge of her mouth.

“Did I get it?” she asked, her eyes looking down to try and see for herself. 

“No,” Adora laughed, watching Catra still try and get the spot. “That’s not- here, let me get it,” before she could think about it, Adora reached across the table and brought her thumb up to wipe away the mustard smear. 

That was her first mistake. 

Her second mistake was making eye contact, which immediately sent her heart racing. 

Adora noticed, not for the first time, that the eye that appeared golden was just a light hazel, the low lighting of the shop not enough to make the golden flecks shine. Her other eye was blue as the sky on a clear day, so different from the grey-tinted shade that Adora’s held, so much more enchanting. Catra had explained it once, something about genetics that Adora found hard to follow along, instead falling into the trance she went in when Catra explained other things she had no idea about, usually about lawyer things.

Catra sat stock-still, and Adora couldn’t seem to make herself move. She was sure that she could have stayed there forever, spending a lifetime getting lost in the lawyer’s eyes, but she was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. 

The two women jumped apart, Adora fighting the heat rising up her neck while Catra quickly brought her mug to her lips and began drinking. Adora looked to the source of the noise and found Madame Razz by the table next to them, innocently sweeping the floor as she hummed lightly to herself. Adora would have believed her innocence if it weren’t for the knowing smirk on the old woman’s face and the fact that she was the only other person there. 

The olive skin of the lawyer was a darker shade around her cheeks and neck as she looked around the shop, and Adora busied herself with wiping the crumbs from the table into a napkin. 

Things had been different since Catra had called her that night at Mara’s. Nothing that Adora had been able to put a name to or something completely noticeable. Just...different. She could hardly believe what had happened, and had spent several nights laying in bed with a stupid grin on her face as she thought about Catra waiting for who knows how long just to get pancakes with her. It was impossible to _not_ notice the lingering eye contact, or the way her heart fluttered when she got a text from the lawyer. Even now just being in Catra’s presence Adora was conscious of her every move. 

Adora chanced a look at Catra to see her already looking back at her with a calculating gaze. 

“Look,” she sighed, elbows coming to rest on the table again, pulling Adora out of thoughts about her maybe-crush on the lawyer. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I think you should talk to someone.” Adora felt almost guilty at the concern on Catra’s face, a look only given to her on a few occasions.

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” Adora said. “It’s just that,” she gestured vaguely in front of her a few times before settling back into her seat, hoping Catra got the message. 

Catra blinked back at her once, twice, but total confusion overtook her face. Adora sighed dramatically before burying her face in her hands, silently cursing herself for her inability to articulate her feelings. 

“I don’t- it’s not- I just-” she tried to get out her thoughts, but every time she tried it felt like there was something pulling her back. 

_Seriously, Adora?_ She scolded herself. _It’s not even that big of a deal!_

With a sigh, Adora grappled together her thoughts and reigned in her apprehension enough to be a functional person. 

“So I went to visit my mom for the weekend…”

* * *

_Adora couldn’t fight the smile from her face as she walked down the familiar path to the beach. Mara walked next to her, the familiar large blue bag tucked under her arm as Adora lugged the beach chairs. The weather was cooling down, but the water was sure to feel nice._

_They set up in their usual spot, Adora finding comfort in the unchanging grey rock that she had claimed as hers when she was nine. She was pleased to find that the_ AW _she had carved into it was still there. Mara had scolded her when she’d first seen it all those years ago, but had since admitted that it was a nice reminder of Adora’s younger days._

_They set up their chairs and towels before settling into them, enjoying the feel of the sun on their skin as the sea breeze ruffled their hair. The water was a crystal blue, the waves breaking far off in the distance before coming to settle against the warm sand. Adora loved her life in Etheria, and had come to enjoy the bustle of the city, but she would always feel most at home by the ocean._

_“So how’s work?” Mara asked, turning to face Adora. Her face was shielded from the sun by a wide-brimmed hat that cast a shadow over her whole head._

_Adora jumped into an explanation about her expose, unable to contain her excitement as she waited for Angella to finish reviewing it for publication. She glossed over the part about meeting Catra, knowing that would derail the entire conversation and leaving Adora exasperated as she tried to explain the situation. She had avoided the topic the night previous, but only just._

_Mara was constantly harping on Adora about grandchildren, and adding a potential love interest into the mix was sure to bring on a tirade of questions and demands, none of which Adora had the capacity to answer at the moment._

_Not that Catra was a potential love interest or anything!_

_Just a friend...who has a flirty demeanor and who always seems to be on Adora’s mind and is kind-hearted even though she hides it behind a cold exterior and-_

_“Make sure to send me a copy once it’s printed,” Mara said, her eyes shining as she looked at Adora’s wide grin, effectively pulling her out of the rabbit hole she was tumbling into. “You’re old hockey trophies are very nice and shiny, but I want something new to show off when the neighbors come around for dinner.”_

_Adora couldn’t help the warmth that enveloped her, and she promised to send the first copy she could get her hands on. Even now as an adult Adora still yearned for the approval of her mother and was elated every time she acknowledged her hard work._

_The two women settled into a comfortable silence before Mara turned back to the blonde._

_“Not that I don’t love having you over,” Mara began cautiously, “but why did you want to see me?” Her words weren’t accusatory, but Adora felt a weight settle in her stomach._

_“What, am I not allowed to talk to my mom?” Adora deflected, hoping to throw Mara off her scent._

_As suspected, it didn’t work._

_“You can talk to me on the phone, and when you do come, Bow and Glimmer are usually in tow.” Adora could see Mara trying to get an answer with her eyes, so she reached into the worn beach bag to pull out a bag of potato chips to buy herself time._

_With one eye on the lookout for seagulls, Adora shoved a handful of chips into her mouth._

_It’s not like it was anything bad, but anxiety crept into her thoughts and her mind flashed with possible scenarios, none of them ending nicely. The very last thing she wanted was for Mara to feel like Adora thought of her as anything other than her mother, even if she didn’t give birth to her._

_“I’ve just been doing some thinking,” Adora started, turning to see Mara hadn’t taken her eyes off the blonde. Mara looked back at her expectantly, Adora shoved another handful of chips into her mouth._

_“Am I supposed to guess?” Mara teased. Adora let out a sigh before wiping her hand on her leg._

_“I guess I’ve just been a little curious about my family,” she said. “I feel almost like a part of me is missing.” Mara sat up straight in her seat as her eyes drifted over to the waves lapping against the shore._

_“Are you-” Mara started, but cut herself short. Her brown eyes dropped to her lap as she seemed to look for the right words. “Do you wish you had grown up with your relatives?”_

_Adora realized too late how her words sounded, and immediately got out of her seat to kneel in front of Mara, taking the older woman’s hands into her own._

_“That’s not it at all,” Adora insisted, Mara looked at her again with watery eyes. “_ You _are my mom, nothing has ever or will ever change that, just like you used to tell me when I was little. When I was born-”_

_“-When you were born, our souls were linked, and the universe knew we would be brought together,” Mara finished, having reassured Adora with those very words so many times. They shared a watery smile before Adora was brought into a familiar embrace, one Adora would never get tired of being in._

_“This has nothing to do with me not feeling like you’re not enough,” Adora managed to pull herself away from Mara to look her in the eyes again._

_“I just have this feeling, one I can’t describe, and it’s telling me I should start looking to see who I am.” Adora wasn’t sure if she was making sense, but the look in Mara’s eyes told her that maybe she could understand._

_“Do I even-” Adora stopped herself, still unsure. Mara gave her an encouraging nod, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “Do I even have any relatives?”_

_Mara looked at her with an apologetic smile and Adora felt her heart sink._

_“I’m not sure, sweetheart,” she said, her voice was tinged with sadness. “There wasn’t much about you that anyone knew when I adopted you, you didn’t even have a last name when they admitted you into the system.” Adora knew this, of course. She still remembered the day they were able to get Adora a birth certificate. It was shortly after Mara had adopted her, and Adora was all too happy to take Mara’s last name, and chose the date she was adopted as her birthday. Mara often expressed her regret at not being able to tell Adora anything about her family history, or even a family name, but it never bothered Adora much. Even now, that wasn’t the real point of her questions. Mara’s family had no problem accepting Adora as one of their own, and she’d never felt out of place at gatherings. She still snuck leftover cake from the fridge with her cousins at Thanksgiving and laughed with Mara at her great uncle’s bad jokes._

_No, it wasn’t that she felt like she wasn’t accepted and didn’t have a family. This was something deeper, something she couldn’t quite place, like there was something_ missing _. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that these two issues might be more connected than she thought._

_Adora sat back in her seat. “Do you have any way to get into contact with Hope?” It was the only question she cared about, the whole reason she came. Mara rolled her eyes at the mention of Adora’s old foster mom, and Adora hoped her aversion to the woman hadn’t stopped her from holding on to her information._

_“I’ll have to go through your papers, but I think I should have the address you were living at when I picked you up and a phone number.” Adora nodded and gave her thanks before shoving another handful of chips into her mouth and looking back out to the ocean._

_“I love you, Adora,” Mara said, flashing Adora a broad grin._

_“Love you too, mom.”_

* * *

“So?” Catra prompted once she was done, practically hanging at the edge of her seat. She was a surprisingly captive audience, only interrupting to ask clarifying questions like who is Hope and why she knew so little about her family. She also asked why Adora didn’t make her birthday something funny like April 20 or give herself a kickass surname, but Adora had chosen to ignore those comments.

“What?” Adora asked. Catra rolled her eyes.

“Did you contact Hope?” The look Adora gave her must have revealed that no, she had not. Catra gave her an exasperated eye roll. “ _Adora!_ ” Her tone was less annoyed and more disbelieving. 

Adora scratched her nose and found a very interesting spot on the wall to look at. 

“I hope you are also aware that you’re kind of a dummy,” Catra sighed into her cup as she finished off the last of her coffee. 

“I know,” Adora resigned herself to the insult this time and earned another eye roll from Catra.

“Shut up, no you’re not,” another futter. “Why haven’t you tried contacting her? She’s bound to know _something_ ,” Catra was looking at her with that look again, and Adora tried to find the words to explain. 

“I don’t know, really,” she added at Catra’s exasperated look. “I guess I’m just a little…” 

“-scared.” Catra finished for her. It wasn’t a question. All Adora could do was nod as she glanced down at her phone for the millionth time. 

“What if I don’t find what I’m looking for,” Adora said quietly. “What if there’s just...nothing. No one out there for me to even find, and I’m left with just this empty feeling.” 

“It’s okay to be scared,” Catra said gently, lowering her head to catch Adora’s eyes again. “But you can’t let fear get in the way of being happy. Your life is in your hands, okay? No one can make you do anything except for you, and if you keep letting fear get in the way, you’re going to be stuck in the same stupid spot the rest of your life, and no one will be able to get you back out.”

Adora considered her words for a long while, her eyes fixed on the lawyer’s as she thought about how many times that very thing had happened. It had been fear that kept her in the closet until well into high school. Fear that kept her from accepting who she was. Fear who kept her from even _asking_ about her family, and now that she had the means, it was keeping her from getting the one thing she had always secretly wanted. 

She was interrupted from her thoughts by Catra’s phone ringing from inside her jacket pocket. The lawyer fished it out and answered it gruffly, clearly annoyed at the interruption. After a few seconds of listening to the other person talking, her face morphed from annoyance to confusion to anger. She ended the call with a short “be there soon.” 

Catra buried her face into her hand and let out a few deep breaths before looking back up at Adora. “I have to get back to the office,” is all she managed before she began to gather up her trash. Adora followed suit, giving her a much needed minute to calm down. Even through her distracted state of mind, it was clear to Adora that Catra had been very tense about something. The lawyer always seemed on edge, especially when Adora asked her about work or her family. 

They walked outside and silently got into Catra’s car before Adora said anything. “Is everything alright?” Catra let out another sigh and shrugged before starting up the engine and pulling out of the lot. 

“Just work stuff, the dumbass intern is fucking things up again so I have to go fix it, _again._ ” It hadn’t taken Adora long to put the pieces together that the _dumbass intern_ that she always complained about was her brother, or “Hordak’s other kid” as Catra liked to call him. 

The rest of the drive was in silence, and Catra pulled up to the steps of the Etheria Times building. 

“Thanks again for driving, Glimmer appreciates me not leaving her stranded here to borrow her car,” Adora said with a grin. 

“Seriously, it’s no problem,” Catra waved her off. “It’s on the way from my job so,” she trailed off without making eye contact. She had said that the first time she offered to drive her too and, of course, Adora had looked to see if it was true. 

It wasn’t. 

Adora climbed out of the car but popped her head back into the open door. “Thanks for listening to me, and for what you said,” Catra returned her smile and it took all of Adora’s willpower not to collapse at how genuine it was. 

The two bid each other goodbye before Adora watched Catra speed out of the parking lot. 

* * *

Adora looked back at the clock then back at her phone. At the clock. At her phone. 

_Eight thirty on a weekday wasn’t a weird time to call someone, right?_

Back at the clock. 

_What if she doesn’t answer because she’s asleep? Or what if she sees a call from a strange number in the middle of the night and then blocks it?_

At her phone.

Catra’s words from earlier echoed in her head. Before she could think about it too much more and go deeper into her spiral, Adora picked up her phone and called the number.

With a shaky hand, she put the phone to her ear and listened as it rang. Her heart pounded in her chest, Adora could feel it throughout her entire body as she sat ramrod straight on her bed. 

On the fifth ring, someone picked up the phone. 

“ _Hello?_ ” The deep, gruff voice on the other end startled her. It was much different and definitely not the delicate voice of her old foster mom. 

“Um, hi,” Adora said, reeling herself back from the slight hiccup. _Maybe she got married?_

“ _Who is this?_ The person asked. 

“Oh, uh, my name is Adora. Adora Woods,” she said quickly, hoping the person on the other end would stay long enough to listen to her. “I was hoping to talk to Hope, is she around?” She dared not give herself any hope. 

“ _Yeah, no. I have no idea who that is.”_ Adora felt her heart sink as she deflated. “ _I’ve had this number for a few years now, so she must have a new one or something,”_ they offered. Adora gave her thanks anyways before hanging up and falling backwards onto her bed. The dejected feeling that engrossed her left Adora wishing she could curl into a ball and be consumed, or perhaps drift off into the abyss for a while. 

Is that it? What else was she to do now?

She tapped her finger to her phone where it was resting on her chest as she stared at the ceiling, thinking. 

Adora picked her phone back up and scrolled through her contacts before finding the name she was looking for and pressing _call_.

After two rings, Catra picked up. 

“ _This feels a little early for a booty call,”_ Adora rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the smile that crept onto her face, a battle she always seemed to lose when it came to Catra. 

“I called Hope,” Adora said, not in the mood to beat around the topic. She had resigned herself to defeat and needed some way to keep from spiraling into a deep hole of ice cream and depressing movies. 

There was rustling on the other end and what sounded like a door being closed. “ _And uh, how did that go?”_ It was clear Catra was very curious but didn’t want to push Adora into saying more than she wanted. It was sweet. 

“Well considering it apparently hasn’t been her number for years, I’ll let you manage the rest,” she set the phone to speaker mode before curling up onto her pillow and setting the phone on the pillow next to her. Swift Wind perked up from his spot on the edge of the bed and came to curl up against her back. 

“ _I’m sorry, Adora,_ ” Catra said, Adora could tell she meant it. “ _Is there anything I can do?”_ Adora shook her head before realizing Catra couldn’t see her. 

“Not unless you know how to track someone down with minimal information,” Adora joked. She was met with a long silence. Her eyebrows knit together. “Catra?”

“ _Okay, so hear me out,”_ Catra said. _“My roommate has no shame in invading the privacy of others and has been itching to do something other than her work projects for a while, do you want me to see if she’ll help?”_ Adora thought about it for a moment. 

_Would it really be so bad to track her down?_

“Doesn’t that sound a little illegal?” Adora questioned, but she still felt herself getting excited at the prospect of actually getting answers.

“ _I don’t think so, and, even if this Hope person found some way to press charges, I know a_ great _lawyer,”_ Adora somehow found the cockiness in Catra’s voice charming, and she couldn’t contain her laugh. 

“Alright, that’s settled then,” Adora said, letting a grin take over her face. 

“ _I ca- see if- weekend,”_ Catra’s voice came through choppy, and Adora cursed the wifi as she waited for the line to clear back up. 

“You’re breaking up,” Adora said. There were a few moments of silence before Catra’s voice came through again. 

“ _Can you hear me? I’ll ask Entrapta if she’s busy this weekend and we can come over and figure this out?”_ Adora’s heart raced at the prospect of Catra being in her apartment. At this rate, Adora would perish from heart complications before she even got close to uncovering anything. 

“Yeah, my roommates are going to be out of town this weekend so that’s perfect!” Adora couldn’t believe her luck, not only was Catra coming over but her roommate could help her, but Bow and Glimmer wouldn’t be around for any of it!

She allowed herself half a second to feel shame about the last sentiment before figuring out a time for her to come over Saturday. They talked for a little while longer before Catra excused herself so she could get ready for bed. 

Adora sat on her bed staring at her phone for a while, letting the excited jitters leave her body before going to get ready for bed as well.

* * *

The week dragged on, and before she knew it, Adora was dropping Bow and Glimmer off at the airport Friday evening. 

She spent the rest of the night tidying up the apartment before curling up on the couch watching Planet Earth, Swift Wind curled at the opposite end on top of her feet. She fell asleep like that, her mind drifting to excited possibilities for the future.

At eleven on the dot the next morning, there was a series of quick raps on the door. Swift Wind ran over to it quickly, his tail wagging furiously as he stared at the door. Adora nudged him backwards with her leg before opening it. 

The first person she saw was Catra, and all thoughts left Adora’s head at the sight. She was in tight black jeans and white t-shirt, a black leather jacket draped haphazardly over one shoulder. Her hair had been left to its own devices, a small floof atop her head instead of neatly slicked back like Adora was used to. 

_Damn._

“Catra! Hey!” was all that she managed to spit out. Catra just raised an amused eyebrow before nodding to the woman next to her.

“This is my roommate, Entrapta. Entrapta, this is Adora.”

The second person, Entrapta, had long purple hair pulled into two pigtails with a pair of stained overalls covering a white t-shirt. A worn-out backpack was slung over her shoulders and a recorder was clutched tightly into her hand. 

“Hello,” she said cheerfully before turning to Catra. “You’re right, she's very pretty,” she whispered loudly. Catra winced and threw her a look before turning back to Adora. 

“So, are you going to invite us in or what?” The smirk was back and so was the fluttering.

_Damn._

Adora ushered them inside and definitely did _not_ allow herself to take a peek at how good Catra’s ass looked in those jeans.

_Damn._

Swift Wind quickly got to sniffing once they were inside and the door was shut. He sniffed around Entrapta’s legs for a while before fixating on Catra, sniffing her all over before nudging his head into her legs as a demand for pets. 

“Thanks for mentioning you have a dog,” Catra grumbled as she looked down at the aforementioned animal. 

_That couldn’t be right._

“I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned him before,” at Catra's dumbfounded look, Adora just sighed. “Alright, well this is Swift Wind!” she announced proudly. He looked back at her at the mention of his name before turning his attention back to Catra.

Catra gave her an incredulous look. “Swift WInd as in _Swifty_?” Adora nodded. “I didn’t know he was a dog! I just thought you had a third roommate with a dumb name,” she said, still looking skeptically at the dog next to her. Adora scoffed before giving Swifty the attention he desired.

“How could you possibly have not known he was a dog?” Adora was almost as perplexed as Catra looked.

“You talk about him as if he’s an actual person and not a ball of fur and drool!” Catra continued to eye Swift Wind wearily as he stared at her, determined to get her attention.

Adora thought back to the times she talked about him and...yeah maybe Catra had a point but-

“What about the time I told you I caught him drinking out of the toilet?” Catra only shrugged in response before walking the rest of the way into the apartment. Adora watched as sat on the single seater, throwing her legs over one arm and resting her body against the other. 

Throughout the course of Adora and Catra’s conversation, Entrapta had quietly slipped past them and was already beginning to unpack her bag. 

“Thanks so much for doing this,” Adora said, tired of Catra’s antics for the moment. She took the seat a few cushions down from Entrapta, watching as she carefully took out various equipment from her backpack. “I really appreciate it.”

Entrapta looked curiously at her before her attention was drawn to Swifty who had come to lay on the ground at Adora’s feet. 

Calculating eyes drifted between the two for a moment before settling back on her computer. “It really is no issue, it’s giving me a great opportunity to try out some new software I’ve been working on,” she said, not looking at her as she methodically plugged wires into sockets. 

Suddenly she stopped and looked back at Swift Wind. “Does your dog follow you everywhere?”

“Uh, I guess so,” Adora said. She looked to Catra but all the lawyer offered was a shrug before her eyes continued roaming the room.

“Do you think you could go walk over there for a moment?” Entrapta asked, pointing to the entrance to the hallway.

“Sure?” she said, confused by the request. Adora looked over at Catra again who just offered another shrug. She swore that the next time it happened she was going to punch her.

Adora did as told and Swifty followed her, standing next to her while she looked back to her guest. 

“And can you come sit back on the couch?” Adora did as she asked again, and Swifty resumed his spot on the ground at her feet. 

“Fascinating…” Entrapta whispered as she looked between Adora and Swifty again. She clicked a button on her recorder and began speaking into it. “The K-9 subject seems to have some sort of attachment to the human subject despite the language barrier presented due to their difference in species. Further observation may lead to more conclusive findings.” Just as quickly as the recorder was taken out, it was just as quickly put away as Entrapta went back to her task of taking out her computer stuff. There was a bulky laptop and some other software stuff that she vaguely recognized as stuff that Bow used for work. 

Entrapta got everything set up relatively quickly, and made quick work once Adora gave her the information she had. 

“Well, I’m starved. Got any food?” Catra asked into the silence, looking around as if some would magically appear. Entrapta perked up and looked expectantly at Adora. 

“There’s some stuff to make sandwiches if you want?” After a lack of objection, Adora stood up and walked the short distance to the kitchen. Catra and Swift Wind followed her and soon they were taking out various items from the fridge and setting them on the counter. 

After confirmation from Entrapta that she was good with turkey and swiss, the two set to work on making the sandwiches. Adora was finally coming down from the feeling of slight overwhelmedness of having new people in her space and started to feel comfortable, albeit a bit too excited at having Catra in her apartment. 

_Catra’s in my apartment!_

“Oh shoot!” Adora looked over the bar to where Entrapta was working. “I forgot to give her the wifi password.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Catra said, starting up on a sandwich. 

“Is she using a hot spot or something?” Adora wasn’t too good at all that techy stuff, but Bow had tried to explain a thing or two. 

“Oh, she’s _definitely_ using your wifi.” Catra gave no explanation so Adora followed suit and began on a sandwich.

“So what kind of name is Swift Wind, anyways?” She could feel Catra’s eyes on her but she refused to look up.

“What do you mean?” Adora asked, feeling her face heat up under Catra’s scrutiny. 

“You know what I mean,” Catra was indignant and clearly determined. “Why not a normal dog name like Max or Rex or something dumb like that?” Adora continued to carefully place the lettuce onto the sandwich. 

“It’s nothing,” she mumbled, but that was clearly the wrong thing to say as Catra perked up. 

“Come _on_ , Adora! Now I know it’s gotta be good!” One glance at the deviously excited look on her face and Adora decided there was no use fighting the inevitable.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I named him after my imaginary friend from when I was a kid.”

Catra squinted at her. “Was this imaginary friend a dog?”

Adora let out a huff and shook her head as she began slicing the sandwich in half. “He was a talking unicorn pegasus.” The cackle of laughter that Catra let out sent butterflies to her stomach and warmth to her cheeks. 

It was positively the best sound she had ever heard.

“Are you shitting me right now?” Catra looked like she had managed to nab the last cookie in the jar and she had yet to control her cackling. “So what? Adult Adora got a dog and decided to name it after a talking horse?”

“Talking _unicorn pegasus,_ ” Adora corrected. She began working on the next sandwich. Catra continued to cackle beside her, even as she asked where she could get water. After directing her to the cup cabinets and the fridge, she took hers and Entrapta’s plates to the living room, setting them a respectable distance away from the electronics. Catra returned momentarily and traded out her plate with the one intended for Entrapta. Adora noted that the sandwich was cut into four small squares instead of the two halves.

They ate in silence, save for the sound of Entrapta’s furious typing in between bites. Swift Wind has taken his spot on his bed in the corner, and every so often Entrapta would look over at him and mutter something into her recorder before going back to her task. 

After about ten minutes Entrapta held out a flash drive. “I have compiled information on the subject including phone number, address, place of work, birth certificate, family history, and dental records.” Adora could only stare at her. “Is that sufficient data or should I look for something else?” Adora shook her head before accepting the flash drive with a thanks. Catra snickered from her spot on the adjacent couch but said nothing. 

Entrapta began to disassemble her work area as she continued speaking. “I have also taken the liberty of fixing your wifi problem, you should find that the efficiency and speed has increased and the coverage should cover a wider radius as well,” Entrapta threw her a smile before continuing to fit everything back into her bag.

“Thanks?” Entrapta just kept unplugging and putting away while Adora studied the flash drive in her hand. More information about Hope than she needed, _or wanted,_ was in the palm of her hand. Literally.

Adora startled when Catra sat down in the seat next. “What are you going to do now?” Catra asked. Her voice remained neutral, and Adora appreciated being given a choice. 

“I guess I’ll call her, for real this time, and see if she has any idea about where I came from.” Adora felt a weight lift off her shoulders and a new one replace it. 

“Well, whatever happens, I’m here for you,” Catra said, offering an encouraging smile. Unable to contain the overwhelming feeling in her gut, she surged forward and pulled Catra into a tight hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered, reveling in the feeling of Catra’s arms coming to pull her even closer. Catra was so warm, so inviting; Adora felt secure, despite the uncertainty. Eventually she pulled away, and the two exchanged shy smiles.

“May I observe you and the dog some more?” Entrapta’s voice pulled them out of their bubble and they scooted away from each other before turning to Entrapta, who was standing near Swifty’s bed, looking down at him as he slept. 

Adora was glad when Catra responded for her. “Maybe some other time, I have a meeting with the Fall Fest planning committee that I need to get ready for.” Catra helped gather up the plates and dump them in the sink while Entrapta finished the last of her packing.

Adora walked her guests to the door and bid them goodbye. Not before offering about a thousand thank you’s to both of them. Swift Wind got up and watched them leave, prompting Entrapta to take out her recorder again and mutter into it. She was still talking into it when Adora finally closed the door after a final goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! so sorry that it took me literally a million years to update but school kicked my Ass this semester so I had like no time to be constructive on anything besides school which sucked, but finals are next week so after that it shouldn't take a kajillion years to update! (also sorry if this chapter has a weird flow, I wrote half of it like 5 months ago but I went through and tried to make it cohesive so hopefully it worked)
> 
> thanks so much for reading and commenting and leaving kudos!! I super appreciate it and I hope you can bear with me while I finish up the semester and get back into the groove of things!


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